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 Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:01 pm
If there was an emotion that was most keenly felt while Super Sailor Albali stood in front of a mirror, staring her reflection in the face, it was that she looked <******** ridiculous. True the childish braids she'd loved for so long had been removed for a sleek fall of deep violet hair, a simple ribbon of a lighter shade holding it back from her face. None of that was enough to compensate for what she could see in the full-length mirror Fallon had fallen through not more than a few weeks previous.
Ribbons and sheer dripped from everywhere they possibly could. The bow at her collar, the twin tails at her waist, the several wrapped around her calves, and the constricting chokers at her neck. More and more they were feeling like they were strangling Albali, dragging her back into a world she not only didn't believe in, but didn't care about. Going to the Surrounding for that brief few hours had been enough to secure her hysteria before Eilian had summoned up her courage to shove it back into place and realize what it had been; a huge ******** hallucination.
None of that had anything to do with with she was powered up in her bedroom, staring at the mirror like it was an adversary to be outwitted, a thing to be analyzed. Eilian was not the sort of young woman who had to summon up her courage to face her own reflection even when it was as magically goofy as what she saw now. Even her pose spoke of a bravado she didn't really have, was somewhat faking, as her voice called out a name.
"Princess Ares." It warbled just a bit on the name of the Dark Mirror's leader, the senshi that Sailor Albali had vowed to follow to Hell and back. Hands gripped either side of the mirror with resolve and twice more responded. "Princess Ares. Princess Ares." Call three times and I will respond. Hands held on to the frame of the glass like a lifeline, eyes somewhat wild but face calm, waiting for a response.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:18 pm
This mirror was not unfamiliar to Ares. It was one she visited the most frequently, though only with her eyes. There had been countless nights when she had flowed through this passageway into Albali's room. Sometimes, she came with battle plans, notes to be dictated, reports to be shared -- and, perhaps more than Ares was proud of, she stumbled onto this smooth carpet to spill into the arms of a girl who looked so much like one she had loved beyond the mirror, in another world: her lost Ouranos.
When she first realized her destiny with the Dark Mirror, Princess Ares had lingered in this surface for hours, watching Eilian sleep, wake, go to school, come home. It was part of her daily schedule, a tiny luxury she snuck in between the meetings, the energy draining, the training. Ares had just come into her full power, and she had a mission -- a true one, this time. After the events at the Surrounding, the Dark Mirror had grown even stronger. It was a beautiful and wondrous thing to see the new senshi learning how to wield their powers, but it was draining too, lonely. Ares worried about so many things that she felt, at times, distant from those she should be closest to now.
Then a voice whispered to her ears: sweet, and perhaps nervous. Albali. A knot twisted in her gut. Ares steeled herself against it, crossed to the nearest mirror, and glided out of the mirror in Albali's bedroom, brushing back her left arm in a flurry of fabric and smokey wings. She kept her back to the girl for a moment, staff strapped across her back.
Slowly, Ares turned to stare with cold eyes at the girl who held the edges of her heart. "Albali," she said once. Then she waited.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:32 pm
Oh sweet God in Heaven. It was perhaps one of the first times in almost a decade that those words had been allowed to even echo in the girl's mind but when most surprised, she went straight back to what she had heard most often in everyday life. It didn't matter if she didn't care, if she didn't believe, because they were just words, the tone echoing incredulously through her mind.
Ares had crossed through the mirror which was something the super senshi had not planned for. No doubt she had looked especially foolish with her arm brushed away, the right one still clutching the frame until her white-gloved hand fell away to hang at her side. Well at least she didn't have to worry about there being a mess. As always, everything was almost ruthlessly organized and in its place, more so now that Eilian had moved into her own small studio apartment without a roommate to worry about.
Swallowing, finding her voice again, it was not quite as calm and cool as Albali had been hoping for but it was indeed purposeful. "Princess Ares. I didn't expect you to reply but it's good to see that your offer is being honored." Oh boy did that sound stupid or what? Teal eyes drifted almost forlornly over the smoke-edged wings of the Dark Mirror's ruler. "I am wanting to take you up on it." Again. Maybe this time, if she clearly said what she wanted, articulated properly...maybe.
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:28 pm
Cool gray eyes rested on the contours of Albali's face like silt in a river delta. My offer, she thought. The words hung in her mind for an instant before she snapped into realization. The promise of coming to the Dark Mirrors, the promise of salvation -- it had been offered to all those in the Blood Moon Court. All of them, and yet not Albali... though Ares had never voiced this aloud.
Now it was the Princess who seemed thrown off-balance. It had been impulsive to come here, but she couldn't help herself. It was a weakness, and that was precisely the problem. "Albali," she said again. There was no softness in the word, just a lingering halt, a stopped end.
How could she explain this? How could she tell the senshi who stood before her just why it would be such a poor idea to bring her over? There was no way that Ares could speak the words in her heart. She had never been good at that, not even with Ouranos. Instead, she held the gaze of the other girl so hard that it might be taken as anger.
Then, at last, she said: "It would be a weakness, and this court is too young for that. I can't build a dynasty if our foundation is not solid and... with you, it would not be solid." Ares would feel for Albali. She would try to hide it, but would be unsuccessful, just as she had been in the Blood Moon Court. She thought of General-Queen Tanzanite realizing her affections... it was enough to make her discount the idea altogether.
"It's not the time. It's not in the plan," she said, as if the words would give her strength. "There can be no weakness."
Her eyes wavered for a moment before the hardness returned. With the threat of her own emotions welling up in her throat, Princess Ares melted back toward the mirror and then said something that almost never left her lips: "I'm sorry." In a flash of mirror, the Princess of the Dark Mirror dissipated into the shimmering surface. The last image of her was two gray eyes boring into Albali -- words unspoken, feelings unshared, as she disappeared into nothingness.
It was only on the other side of the mirror that she allowed the sadness to spill over in the solitude of mirrorspace.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:26 am
No. No! The absolutely stunned look that had reached up to spread itself across the Senshi of Echoes' face was reflected back at her as the Dark Mirror Queen slid away from the emotional confrontation sure to come. Was that the weakness? That the super had strong feelings that she couldn't entirely reason or name for Ares or was it something else inside of her? Princess Ares had gotten the upper hand with the surprise before the quick retreat but Albali wasn't one to allow her purpose to be overruled for long.
Striding to the full length mirror her fist thumped against it futilely. Shattering the glass would have been abhorrent as it was a waste, a mess, and still a conduit. Perhaps if she did things right the Princess of Smoke would come easing through the glass in the night, offering her what Albali knew deep in her heart she wanted: the chance to serve. Why it was so strong, if it was tied to her affection or just something else, she could not have said. But it was important, damn it!
"I know you can hear me Princess Ares, so listen good." Talking to a mirror. She'd lost her ******** mind now hadn't she? "I'm not weak and I am going to prove it to you. I am going to go be the strongest magical warrior I absolutely can, I'm going to get stronger. You know I will." Cocky assurance in her own perseverance was something that sat well on Albali. She'd always excelled at those things she put her mind to; her mind would now be fully bent on this single goal above all others, to the best of her considerable abilities to shape her future the way she wanted.
"Then, when I'm stronger, I'm going to call you again. And I promise then that you'll want me because I will be something that your court needs. I'm going to be so damn strong you can't brush me off anymore or leave me behind. That's a promise Fallon." Another thump against the mirror before Sailor Albali was almost careless of her identity, at least stepping out of sight of the mirror before depowering to walk quietly out of her bedroom.
If she listened still Ares would have been able to hear a teenage young woman indulging in her slightly theatrical side. A quiet sonata was playing at midnight in the living room dominated by her piano, Eilian's eyes barely focused in the here and now as she planned her quiet assault on the Princess' will.
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 5:24 pm
The weakness.
Ares could feel her weakness thudding against the delicate ribs in her chest. She could feel it just as she could feel that same weakness around Nehelenia and Ouranos. The cold countenance of her killing kept the Princess of Smoke off-balance, just as it had unnerved the once Order-aligned Senshi of Smoke. When she was just a solider, it could be tolerated, but now, Ares had a greater mission than she had ever had before. There was no time or opportunity for weakness, not when the very future of the senshi race rested so heavily on her shoulders.
One clawed hand lifted to rest on the mirror that had just brought her from Albali's bedroom back to mirrorspace. The image still wavered, allowing her to watch and listen as the other senshi issued her vow. Such spirit... it was part of what drew Ares to her in the first place. And it was the precise reason that Albali could never, ever join the Dark Mirror.
Gray eyes clouded. Ares dropped her gaze to the floor. Her hand slipped from the mirror. As the Princess of the Parallels began to walk away, she could hear the first few notes of a lulling sonata until the doorway closed, leaving her in silence. Still the notes of the song and the burning image of Albali's face did not leave her for hours, for days, for weeks -- but, in time, they would. For Ares, it was necessary.
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