[R] Rise And Rise Again (BMC Meeting)

[kalindara]

It was only a small group who were expected tonight. That had been the agreement between Birhan and Scylla, who were also the first to arrive: tell only those you could be sure of, those you would personally vouch for. Expansion - much needed - could wait til they had a solid footing again. It was more important, tonight, to not have a repeat of the last meeting of the Blood Moon Court. No surprise guests this time.

Some might have been contacted in person. Others via a phone call, if two senshi had happened to be powered up and close enough at the same time. Others still would have received only a text message, coded, a slight derivative of one of the older BMC encryptions. All any of them received were a time and co-ordinates that led them to this building.

Empty and never-used, it had once been intended to be short office building. Money had dried up before completion, another victim of the recession. So it had remained, for the better part of half a year, an ugly little concrete building, walls, windows and doors all in place, but an empty nothing inside, just several large rooms that at one point would have had dozens of tiny cubicles crammed together within them. But that would never happen. The building was slated to be demolished tomorrow, making way for an additional parking lot for a more successful company across the road. Any evidence that the BMC had been here tonight would be long gone by noon tomorrow.

Birhan refrained - with great effort - from pacing in one of the inner rooms. With the doors closed, no one would see the light from the camping lamps that had been set up. The room itself was large enough to have fit the BMC at its largest. When only half a dozen were expected, it would be more than sufficient. No one was late (Birhan had been early, a last-minute check that no unusual energy signatures were in the area), but Birhan couldn't help but be nervous. This hadn't gone well the last time - the group meeting, or the other issue that she had to discuss...

Well, at least Scylla was on her side. That was one good thing. Birhan shot the other senshi a tight smile.  

[Krysin]

Nemesis probably wasn't the first senshi someone would guess to show up at the BMC meeting, and on time as well. Hell, someone could argue there was probably a mix-up at some point and she got the text message meant for someone else. The truth was that Nemesis didn't quite know what she felt about the BMC after Ares' betrayal. All that she knew was that she felt something, and that something was enough to tie her down to a team who's ideals were beginning to differ from her own. Nemesis just couldn't leave them, not when she wasn't sure they could take care of themselves. Some of the BMC were capable fighters by Nemesis' standards, but they weren't her.

For all she knew, if she turned her back on them now, something terrible could happen to them. She liked them just enough to have a desire to keep that from happening. The Eternal Soldier of Decay was far more loyal than she would ever let on. It would ruin her image for her to let on that she genuinely cared about the well-being of those who remained in the BMC. So, as she walked into the long abandoned building, she seemed irritated to have been made to go out of her way to get there.

It genuinely did surprise her that she was one of the first to show up. Fancy that. The BMC was in far more danger of falling apart than she expected if she was one of the first senshi to arrive to a designated meeting. "Did I miss the party?" That could be it too, she had gotten the time wrong and arrived so late that everyone else had already left. That made more sense, actually. All that was left was Scylla and Birhan, which would have likely been the last two to leave anyways.

"I did get the time right... right?" Yes, she was beginning to doubt herself now.  

[SpaceSalt]

Zirconia had made a resolution. It wasn't a New Years resolution, just a normal one. But like she had told Birhan, she was going to try to create a degree of separation between herself and the Blood Moon court at large. She had definitely resigned from their inner sanctum circle, because by now she couldn't trust herself. She couldn't be holder of secrets because she couldn't guarantee the safety of those secrets, now that her nearest and dearest now occupied multiple sides of a battle line. Not that she had exactly announced these intentions to very many people.

But the second someone spilled the coordinates of this meeting, the nosy, lonely cat was just not going to win her self imposed battle to stay away. Besides, Birhan might totally need her. And she would most certainly leave if any sensitive information was going to be discussed. Yeah. Totally.

Still, she slunk in like she maybe shouldn't have been invited, head kept low and level to the ground as her ears went back a bit. She was breaking the ruuuules. Well, her own rules. That she made. But still.

There was also that little thing about her brief adventure in mirrorspace, but she honestly wondered if that would be a thing to share, especially now, when the team was already so fragile. When her motives were questioned in the surrounding, Scylla and Sirius stood up next to and for her. The BMC was hers, but there was small part of her that was terrified they could start to entertain the rest of the White Moon's preconceived notions about the Parallel kind if they knew that her heart harbored any temptation.

In the end, nothing was initially said by her. There was just awkward and uncertain staring as she scanned the room.

 

[Remove]

Sirius had been waiting for this text since the day Ares turned and since her meeting with Scylla in the park. She wanted the group back together more then she could explain. She loved them.

She had spotted Zirconia on her way, the cat was sneaking in and it amused her slightly and so she followed in and crouched down by the cat, stroking her softly.

"Thank you for coming. We love you no matter what." She whispered the words to the cat before standing up and heading towards Birhan, Scylla and Nemesis. Was this going to be it?

She wasn't the most professional but went straight up to Birhan and hugged her, then hugged Scylla but just smiled at Nemesis. She wasn't about to hug the senshi of decay who she knew mostly by reputation and not personally at all.

"Do you know how many are coming?" Sirius looked at the building and wondered if the members were countable on one hand.  

[kalindara]

Birhan's eye widened when Nemesis arrived, but she quickly pulled her expression back under control. To show either too much shock or too much pleasure at Nemesis' presence could end badly, she suspected. For all Birhan knew, Nemesis just saw this as another duty - a 'keep the babies from getting themselves killed' sort of responsibility. (Which was completely fine with Birhan, but best not to start an argument - Birhan foresaw enough of those coming as it was.)

Zirconia and Sirius were close behind. It was impossible to keep a straight face under Sirius' hug - Birhan cracked and gave the senshi of canines, and their resident Mauvian, warm smiles.

"It's only a small group, I'm afraid," she answered both Nemesis and Sirius. "To be expected, I guess. We weren't on the most solid of ground to begin with, so after Ares... well..."

The redhead shrugged. "The weak scatter. And the strong... we rebuild."

Birhan was still expecting a few more faces, but it didn't hurt to breach the topic that they were all here to discuss. It didn't take a genius to realise that if someone was calling a meeting of the Blood Moon Court then they were probably hoping to get the Court back in order.  

[Remove]

Sirius listened and sighed.

"Please tell me you both know of more coming? Five of us aren't going to be able to deal with Ares." Just putting it out there - Sirius had found good use of her voice recently and less use of her brain. She said what she thought which had it's pros and cons.

Well at least five was a start and yes Sirius included Zirconia, she was their cat whether she liked it or not.

"So whats the new plan?"  

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

Serpentarius didn't mean to be late, but here she was, running late. She only hoped that she wasn't so late that she would be disturbing everyone. Pushing her blond hair from her face, she bites on her bottom lip as she ducks into the meeting. She honestly never thought she would return to one, not without her cousin anyways.

But this was the first place, in a very long time, she felt like she belonged. She felt like she was safe with the BMC, even with the knowledge of Ares turning on them. Slipping up next to Sirius, she gives her a nod as she looks over the group.

Sirius was right, just the five of them wasn't going to be enough at this point.  

[Krysin]

"The new plan is to get more people to show up," Nemesis answered Sirius with a sarcastic drawl. She could probably afford to be nicer to the remnants of the BMC, but she was irritated. They had lost far too much in the last few weeks. It was something Nemesis feared that the court could not rebound from. She doubted still that Birhan was a strong enough individual to repair the pieces of the court that had been broken, and even with Scylla's aid it did not seem like that much of an improvement. Perhaps she was being pessimistic, but she had every right to be when part of the court had been corrupted, and another part had left. Hell, the only thing that kept her around was some lingering feeling of loyalty, which was likely the last thing anyone expected Nemesis to possess.

"You'd probably get killed, or worse, corrupted, if you tried to take on Ares," she noted further. Of course, she seemed to leave herself out of the equation, as if she thought she were capable enough to handle Ares on her own. She was fairly confident everyone else would get their asses handed to them, even if they attacked as a court. Did they even have a right to call themselves a 'court' when so few showed up? No matter, Nemesis just couldn't believe that anyone was more capable of handling the problem other than herself. The one person she could put faith in was herself, and she saw nothing wrong with that.

"Which puts us at the defensive, and I really ******** hate being defensive." They were at a severe disadvantage. Ares had the Negaverse on her side now, and what did the BMC have? A few members, sure, but any true support from the senshi side? Likely not. The old BMC wouldn't have wanted help anyways. She supposed the BMC would change, just as she had changed, just as everything was bound to do eventually, change.

The only thing she was sure of was that she did not know whether to like this oncoming change or not.  

[SpaceSalt]

Zirconia seemed to relax immensely after absorbing the kind smiles and atmosphere of the group. Small and scattered as they were, there was still a sense of camaraderie that went unbroken. Even Nemesis being Nemesis was an odd sense of security.

"It's true, Sirius, right now we have to focus on rebuilding and internal issues before we go about trying to take down Ares," She said, a strange, twisted grimace following her pause that came and went. "Now is not the time to be hunting. It's a time for stealth, safety, and repair," She said in her wordy attempt to figuratively pat the senshi of canines on the head, so to speak.

All four feet took a bit of a shifting step as the wheels of her mind turned. "Publicity... is an issue. When I was confronted about my loyalties, joining the Blood Moon Court was listed as one of my 'mistakes'. Recruiting with that image will present difficulties and we need new blood."

After a moment, she cleared her throat and glanced specifically to Birhan, who was, after, the leader. "I do not, for the record, consider my admittedly shifting membership a mistake. I'm proud of this court, and is one of the few things I'm grateful I can put my confidence in. But Ares is building her ranks and we need to repair ours... and unfortunately the sea of flighty and selfish children that make up out recruiting stock view us as everything from irrational killers to chaotic villains who uncannily created a General-Queen," The sneer was particularly present as she went over what she considered uninformed and stupid ideas. However, no solutions were offered, as the cat didn't have any. Worrying about public relations-- Which were not even remotely her forte-- just made her wish she could change opinions she thought were wrong with a few good whacks to the head.

 

[nessy]

Quietly entering there was really no way to hide that for one of the rare instances in her life, Albali was late when she was supposed to be somewhere. It wasn't exactly easy to run across town even with the supernatural boost of speed and she couldn't have left that particular rehearsal if her life depended on it. "Don't worry Nemesis, perhaps you can just threaten to maim anyone that doesn't fall into line. That sounds like a perfectly solid recruitment strategy." A flash of grin was aimed towards her obvious partner in crime; she had, thankfully, come in after all mention of Ares and 'taking her down'.

Betrayal stung yet it didn't mean that she could jump right in and plan to take down the woman she'd sworn her allegiance to, personal feelings nonwithstanding. "I apologize, I couldn't get away from where I was without it being noted and perhaps even looked into. Some of my obligations are not exactly magical warrior friendly." And damn it, she liked it that way. Crossing her legs at the ankles as the Senshi of Echoes leaned against the doorframe, she considered the recruitment.

"Part of the problem is that a lot of delicate sensibilities were offended. I know not everyone was quite pleased with the events of Operation ROTA, before the unfortunate ending." A glance was flicked Scylla's way but not in admonishment, simply acknowledgment of what she knew. "Tanzanite and the officers that escaped have not wasted their efforts denouncing us as disgusting torturers who will stop at nothing to get what they want. While this is obviously true that we have not stopped at anything to this point, that is an image we will have to change." A finger was held up.

"I do not, however, advocate lessening our admittance strictures or our stance. I came to the Blood Moon because they offered an alternative for waiting for some incredibly powerful magical blonde princess to come back from the dead and deliver us from evil. I quit going to church as a child I don't need a new religion now." Her voice bit just a little at the mention of Princess Serenity, ignoring entirely the claims of her candy-haired future daughter. "We should return to those ideals more than any other if we're to win new acolytes. It was our strongest selling point. Everything else?" Hands spread and flapped as if she was shooing something away.

"Water under the bridge as we've changed leadership." Propaganda? Absolutely. A lie? Oh yes indeed. But why should that matter now?  

[kalindara]

"The new plan is to get more people to show up," Nemesis said.

Birhan gave a quick, involuntary smile. Despite the sarcasm, Nemesis was right on the mark with that one. "Exactly. Recruitment clearly needs to be priority number one. As we are, we're too easy for Ares to pick off one by one. Trying to move against her would be suicide."

... Said the girl who'd decided to throw a kick at the princess' head while only a base level senshi. Birhan knew only too well the differences in their power. She suspected even Nemesis would be outmatched in a one-on-one fight with Ares.

"What we have now, in this room, is a solid foundation, something to build from. The Blood Moon Court isn't dead because we still live according to its beliefs. The reason most of us joined was because those beliefs were already ours - we just found others who felt the same." Birhan nodded her head at Albali. "I agree, there is no point in softening our stance. A fake front might appease those Wolframite told his tales to, but it wouldn't give us the type of members we actually need."

However, Albali's proposed ruse had some merit to it. It made Birhan laugh, at the least. There was no reason not to let people think that the 'new' BMC was running differently - considering that most outsiders were operating under misconceptions anyway.

"Maybe what we need is to increase our visibility," she suggested. "Let the other senshi see what we do, what we're looking for. We certainly aren't the monsters they'll be expecting to find. That way, we reassure some senshi who might otherwise be bothersome down the track, and maybe get some new blood into our ranks as well."

An open day or something. Pass on some skills to some senshi in need, satisfy the curious, scout out new recruits... If the others were willing, Birhan thought it could kill two or three birds with one stone.

Though speaking of willing... She straightened. Time for the part that she suspected would not be received well. "I know we've had this conversation before, at... older meetings." Pre-DMC meetings. "I know several of you don't believe in me, and I know several do. I also know I've made mistakes. But I've learned from them. And with your permission, I'd like to nominate myself as Captain of the Blood Moon Court."

Her eyes darted between the senshi - and cat - present. Some of them were already aware of her intentions. Birhan could guess the reactions of others, like Nemesis. But Nem herself had said before that she had no desire to be leader.

"On a trial basis, if you like," she added. "There were parts of Ares' rule I didn't approve of. One of the changes I'd like to propose is the ability of the Inner Sanctum to overrule my decisions. Less chance of me doing something stupid and killing us all." Birhan tried to make it a joke, but it felt flat even leaving her mouth. Too much a possibility of it being true. Which was all the more reason to have such a system in place.

"That being said, I also wanted to suggest that everyone here be a member of the new Inner Sanctum - Zirconia's already turned me down," Birhan said with a wry quirk of her lips, "for quite good reasons, but I'm hoping that the rest of you will agree. We're the 'old guard', if you like. The remnants of the original Blood Moon Court. Who better to create and guide a new one?"

Aaaand now was a good time to shut up, she told herself. She just given them a lot to consider and discuss, none of it simple.  

[nessy]

Oh she very much would keep it. Just because she didn't enter in time to hear the 'burn the witch' portion of the evening, Albali wasn't sure she would ever be comfortable a full-out Blood Moon strike on Princess Ares for a whole complicated pile of reasons. She had to know what was happening before it happened for her own peace of mind as well as her professional, plus she had earned that place, damn it!

"I'm not precisely a leader myself, I'll follow any reasonable plan you formulate. I think I left my cloak at the old warehouse though, complicated reasons and all that." Truth be told Albali missed that just a little bit; it would have made an interesting statement when she'd met Ares the last time. Would things have gone a little differently had she been standing there in the mantle of Ares' old approval?

Hell. Probably not.

"You've at least the sense to understand that if nothing else, the example left behind is that no one person can be the absolute leader. A figurehead, someone to be culpable when things go wrong, oh absolutely. It's all brilliantly democratic and isn't that what the PM is for?" Oh, well that was a little British of her wasn't it? Ah well. "But you need at least a small pool to check yourself before you wreck yourself." There was something very strange about that incredibly American phrase delivered in the clipped, round tones of Albali's accent that made it almost surreal a statement.

Inside, deeply inside, there was a horrible tear in her interests. On one hand if she could help bring the Blood Moon Court to its former glory wouldn't that show she was strong, that she was needed here, so taking her through a mirror would be something that would hurt the court? Yet it also would set up a strong opposition to...well. That one was quite obvious. It was all probably more hurt than help but she had to be involved, had to take some control, or there was just no point to it all.

As if there ever was.