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 Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:08 am
Where was she meant to go now?
Mjolnir wandered the dark streets of Destiny City in circles, hoping that her feet would lead her to the answer. Her memory was hazy and her body ached fresh from battle. She remembered a woman with large fog like wings, and the next thing she knew she was laid out on the ground, changed. Events came back to her in flashes, sending waves of discomfort through her body. Lifeless corpses. Blood. Screaming... it was all too much. She had ran as soon as her legs allowed her to move, into the darkness, onto the streets, and when she could no longer run she walked. Her chest heavy and her legs shaking from fatigue.
Every so often a car would drive past, the headlights reflecting off the bronze on her fuku. People past her, some did a double take, others did not seem to notice her at all. It was well past curfew, but there were always some that stayed out after hours for various reasons. In truth she was too engulfed in thought to notice the looks or the faces that graced them. She knew she could not go back home and the knowledge made her chest physically ache, the brunette sighed and looked down at her darkened fuku. She had been baptized in the mirror, she felt different, confused, exhausted. Finally she looked up, awaken from her daydream by a rumbling of thunder in the distance.
The last thing she needed was rain. Being lost and cold was one thing; being lost, cold and wet was another entirely. She could power down, but she didn't know who she would become if she did, she was no longer Emilie, so who was she? Until she knew the answer she thought it best to stay in the form that was familiar to her, the Senshi of Berserkers, former member of the White Moon Court, newly awakened Dark Mirror Senshi. That one constant gave her some comfort, she was not a total stranger to herself.
She picked up her passe, keeping her head down and bolting once more. She did not know where she was going, maybe she would run until dawn, either way she would end up somewhere. Every journey had a beginning, and every journey had and end.
She just hoped she got there sooner than later.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:54 am
Thunder did not have to reach Jett’s ears to know that there was a storm. He had been lying in bed staring up at his ceiling for an hour after Raven had gone to sleep next to him. He’d tried to sleep; pain killers had kept his body from aching too obnoxiously, though it also left his mind in a strange sort of fog. He’d been close to sleep a few times, only to end up jerking in his sleep. Once he almost slugged Raven when he’d jerked out of an odd dream—and he realized then that perhaps sleep wasn’t going to come as easily as he’d hoped.
He’d tried, though. Every method he could think of. He’d counted sheep, thought about chemistry class, closed his eyes and tried to imagine nothing but blackness. He’d run out of ideas before he was any closer to getting to sleep. He felt restless and blamed it whole heartedly on the battle.
A quick walk. That’s all he’d take. A little bit of fresh air. He could see the lightning and new that the weather wouldn’t allow him to be out for too long. He’d just go out, work out the rest of his energy, come home and collapse.
Carefully, he slid away from Raven—and in an act of tenderness he seemed capable of displaying only when no one was looking, pulled the blankets over her to make sure she was fully tucked in. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and slipped out of the room.
He powered up in the guest bedroom before stepping through the ornate full length mirrored he’d snagged at an antique auction for practically pennies. He abandoned his typical ritual of admiring himself so he didn’t have to see how badly the battle had bruised him. He’d deal with that in the morning.
When he stepped through the mirror, he ventured to the park. The humidity was annoying, but not unbearable, and the while the weather should have been the focus of his attention, Remarque became keenly aware that he was not alone when another chaos-tinged aura flickered onto his radar.
For a short while he considered ignoring it, though if another Dark Mirror Senshi was out tonight, he had full intention of scolding them. Sure, he suspected that a vast majority of people would be at home reclining after the battle but after the bloodshed, Remarque could only imagine the target that had been painted on the Court’s back. Whoever was out was just a basic Senshi on top of it all—practically nothing more than bait.
What should have been a somewhat lengthy journey he cut into mere seconds by utilizing two of the many mirrors in the area; when he stepped out, it took only a few seconds more for him to scan the area and spot her.
She, who looked absolutely and totally unknown to him—and seemed to be running. A quick glance told him nothing was following her, so her behavior seemed rather unusual. Though, tonight nothing really seemed normal. Eyes on her, Remarque called across the slight distance, “If you’re running from someone, I think you lost them.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:46 am
It was then that she heard someone call over to her, at first the words that the other senshi spoke did not register, but when they did she could not help but smirk. Was she running away? She had not thought about it like that. It did not take long for the amused look to fall from her face, this was no time for that.
"I'm not running away." She protested, at least that was not her intention. Afterall she could not outrun what was bothering her. She could not outrun the horrors of the battle, she could not outrun her new identity, she could not outrun the thoughts that were haunting her. She clenched her fist, her face notably void. Finally she sighed, her honey eyes closing and her figure relaxing. There was no point getting angry about this, she needed to concentrate less on her internal battles and more on this blonde boy that had turned up.
She did not know who he was, she needed to keep her eyes on him.
"I am running to something, someone, somewhere... anywhere. I don't know." She shrugged, not knowing how to explain it. As long as she was on the move she at least felt she was doing something, it was making her feel better in a helpless situation. She shook her head, in truth she did not know what she was doing, she had been running in circles and it had resolved nothing. She was as lost now as she was all those hours ago. Just more tired. Her body was screaming for bed.
Finally she turned to face the new arrival, clearly a dark mirror court senshi, like herself. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice loosing the tone of lost confusion it had before.
It was time to be more direct.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:28 am
“Remarque,” the male replied easily, watching her with a curious look. She looked haggard, though he had not recalled seeing her at the battle. Not that such a thing was particularly surprising; not only had the room been packed full of people, but he’d been a little preoccupied with looking out for Mimistrobell while brawling with a few ballsy senshi. “Dark Mirror Senshi of Puppetry. And I don’t think we’ve been acquainted.”
He shifted positions to take a more casual stance; during the battle earlier, Leto had mentioned a new Senshi among their ranks and, while he hadn’t met the girl, this was not the same one he had spotted when they first stormed the place. “Who—”
A sharp crack of thunder from off in the distance; he paused to let it rumble before he continued, “Are you?”
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 3:12 pm
The senshi looked into the distance as the rumbling of thunder echoed through the streets. Then her attention went to her comrade, was that right? Remarque. She had not met any Dark Mirror Senshi before, from what she heard there were only a few. She thought going threw the mirror would make everything clear, but the influx of corruption gave her no answers. The concept of this war was still alien to her.
"Mjolnir." She finally stated, folding her arms to contain some warmth, the night air was nippy and the lightest drops of rain could be felt on her pale face. She guessed this was rock bottom, and in truth, she was handling it quite well. Maybe under different circumstances she would have gone home and mourned what she had lost, but no tears came, she was too tired to cry.
She did not give him any more information, she was sure it would come up sooner or later. Maybe in training. She did not know much about the court, or how it operated. Thinking it was best to deal with one identity crisis at a time she went back to wondering where she was meant to go.
There was a pause, and in a moment her face softened somewhat. Her voice a little more than a whisper. "I can't go home, can I?" She asked, she knew the answer, but the words just seemed to escape her lips.
Maybe she wanted to believe he would tell her differently.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:12 pm
Her words took a few seconds to sink in. The battle was still fresh in his mind, and though he had been busy with his own fairs—one thing registered.
Ares had been there.
Ares, and a bunch of white moon Senshi, ripe for the picking.
It was the only way her question made sense; anyone who had a home to go to should be there, sleeping off the bumps and bruises from that battle.
“No,” he said finally. There was no easy way to phrase it, no way to sugar coat it. He had been fortunate in his induction into the Dark Mirror Court. He had been in the presence of only agents of Chaos—and he had been awakened into this role. His mind briefly flickered to Navi—to Leto and Requiem. They, who had experience. Who had learned to live with leaving everything behind.
Remarque was not the sort to be in abundance of sympathy, but this girl—Mjolnir—warranted some. He thought tonight had been bad for him—but he had a home to go to. He wasn’t out here all by himself without any idea what was supposed to happen next. Tonight should have been a good night for Mjolnir; she been granted enlightenment. He doubted she was going to take tonight to appreciate the gift, but as soon as things calmed down, he had full faith that this night would become one of celebration. She might have had to shed herself of her previous identity—but in that, she was given the opportunity to grow into something strong, something better.
He approached casually, taking slow, passive steps to shrink the distance between them. “…But it’s going to be all right. You were in the battle, earlier?” he prompted, merely wanting to affirm his assumptions. “Were you hurt?”
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:25 pm
He awnsered just how she expected, but the word still hit her like a knife. The last little bit of hope she had snuffed out, just like that. Her eyes found her feet, small dots of rain making a pattern on the ground. She liked the rain, it was somewhat soothing, and it seemed to match her mood. Maybe nature was crying the tear's she could not.
How was it going to be alright? She did not see it, though she knew it was better not to vocalize that doubt. She looked back at him as he mentioned a battle? That was a battle? It was more of a massacre from her prospective. She did not remember much of it, and she did not really want to. It would not do her any good to upset herself with such traumatizing events, maybe not remembering was her only mercy of the night. "The battle..." She mumbled, the word foreign to her lips.
"No, I don't think so." She shook her head, she was tired but no place was hurting more than any other. She gave herself a quick look, a couple of bruises, but no blood to be seen. She would be okay, it was not her body that was hurting her.
Her posture stiffened as he approached her, that distance was her comfort zone and he was quickly intruding on it. Her circle was bigger than most peoples, he was still a stranger, teammate or not she did not fell comfortable with him approaching. Her eyes stayed on him, even as more thunder rumbled in the distance. "So..." She began, swallowing, like the words she was about to say got caught in her throat.
"What happens now? Do I start over? As someone else?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:13 pm
Watching her carefully, Remarque seemed vaguely aware at her change in posture; he kept a bit of distance between the two of them in an effort to make her as comfortable as possible. The rain was a bit of a deterrent and he cast a quick glance to the sky before returning his gaze to her.
He was glad to hear she wasn’t injured; perhaps that would help make this transition easier on her. If it could ever have been described as easy.
“Yes, and no,” he replied, choosing his words carefully. “You are still yourself. Whoever you are under Mjolnir. But you have been saved, and with salvation there are sacrifices to be made. You can take this opportunity to entirely reinvent yourself, or try and craft a new life as close to the one you’ll be leaving behind. Your friends won’t recognize you. Your family won’t recognize you. You’ll need a new name, a new identity. A new life. But you won’t have to do it alone.”
He might not know the first place to start in rebuilding a life—but there were those in the court who did, and who could help her in what ways he couldn’t.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:30 pm
How could he say that she had lost everything, and not be alone. She had noone, nothing, not even a name. She was a girl who was used to being alone, but even for her this was extreme. She relaxed when he stopped walking towards her, and nodded her head at his words. They had not truly sunk in, they needed time, maybe in the morning she would understand. Maybe then she would feel like being saved was a good thing.
"I see." She could not go back to the life she lived, the life she lived revolved around one thing and one thing only... and she had just lost that. Now she had to start again, she did not know how, maybe it was for the best just to take one day at a time and see where she ended up. She was too tired to make life choices, maybe an idea would come to her in a dream. That was where all the best ideas came from, right?
"I have always liked the name Ophelia." She mumbled, it was progress, a tiny step, but progress none the less. She knew there were alone, even the stars were hidden behind the clouds, so there was no harm in saying it outloud. "I will work out who I am later, for now I would just be happy with getting out of the rain." She smiled, pushing a long strand of loose hair behind her ear. Her fringe stuck to her face as the rain got heavier.
"This kind of thing happens to your-mine-our court all the time, don't you have someplace we can go? -
When we can't go home anymore?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:20 pm
The smile was encouraging to Remarque, who made an effort to reciprocate it. It was hard for him to sympathize with the situation, particularly when he wasn’t very creative with emotions, but all it took was a moment to consider his mother.
What would he have done if he’d been as unfortunate as Navi on the Surrounding? If he’d had to give up that life, abandon the woman that raised him—abandon all his goals and dreams. If he’d lost everything he’d worked for.
“…Ophelia is a pretty name. We should probably something we should look into setting up for incidents like this, but for now, but for now…” his voice trailed off. It was late, and if he didn’t already suspect Leto to have gone to bed, he might have called to see if she had room at her place. He hadn’t remembered it to be a particularly large apartment and assumed Lydia was still staying there.
He could have asked Raven if she could have a guest over, though with her over at his place, that didn’t seem like a good plan for the evening.
There was always the guest room at his house, though. And with his mother out of town, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue to have her over—and maybe Raven could offer some insight on the issue in the morning. She’d had more interaction with both Lydia and Quinn—and there was something about far friendlier about dealing with girls that he assumed might put Mjolnir—Ophelia—at peace.
“I’ve got a room I can offer you. At the very least for the evening. Longer if you need. I’m not going to rush you out. I can’t imagine this whole thing is going to be easy, but I can pull some strings and see that you’re taken care of. But you shouldn’t have to worry about that—not tonight. My place is safe. It’s a warm bed, shower, food.”
Remarque wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable with inviting a stranger into his home, but perhaps he’d warmed up to the idea since the first time he’d offered a room. There was something far less worrisome than a girl—and right now he suspected she was too shaken up by the whole affair to be trouble.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:40 pm
"I think so too. Hamlet is one of my favorite stories." Her mother used to read her Shakespeare's works, she had always loved Ophelia, maybe because she could somehow relate to her madness. Maybe that was the only little bit of her she was allowed to keep, the thought comforted her, and she decided. That was going to be her name, it felt familiar, it felt right.
She stepped back when he offered her a place to say, once again her voice going quiet. "I do not have much of a choice." What was the alternative? Sleep on the street? She did not like the idea of going home with him, but her options were limited. It was either put some trust in the blonde senshi or deal with the homeless of Destiny City. He was the better option. If only he knew how hard it was for her to trust, if only he understood.
She gulped, realizing her words might have been somewhat offensive. "I... I do not mean to sound ungrateful, it's just we are strangers afterall." She stated, stepping forward again, holding her hand to her chest and clenching it tight. Maybe he would understand, it must have been a leap of faith of extend the invitation in the first place. Instead of digging a deeper hole she decided it was best to be gracious. He was doing her a huge favor, she had to remember that.
Finally she bowed her head, arching her back out of respect. "Thank you. I do not mean to be a burden."
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:29 pm
Remarque raised a brow at her humble response. She was polite in such a way that he hadn’t expected, and at this hour, his charm escaped him. “You’re not being a burden,” he said, averting his gaze once more to look at the clouds in the sky. “In fact, I’ll probably be able to sleep easier after all of this. I don’t expect you to be totally thrilled with everything, or to be jumping for joy right about now. Just know that things will get easier—better than they are now, and better than they were before. Getting started might be hard, but when it’s all said and done, you won’t regret tonight. One day, you’ll look back and remember all of this fondly. But for right now…nobody’s going to expect you to be miraculously all right. So it’s just fine if you want to be upset. It’s just fine if you want to throw a fit, if you want to mourn, if you want to think—you can take your time and we’ll work through this. Now, though. If you want to get in somewhere dry before we end up looking like drowned rats, you’re going to have to trust me enough to let me mirror walk us back to my place. Or, the alternative is we power down so we’re not attracting too much attention and walk back. Which gives us ample opportunity to stop for a quick bite if you’re hungry. Either way, your call.”
He kept a slight smile curved on his face—not just for aesthetics. Even if she hadn’t outright confessed, he could read people well enough to know that she was uncomfortable with this whole affair. He couldn’t really blame her. Not that he was used to people not jumping at the chance to come home with him, but he supposed he could forgive her in this situation.
He didn’t want to give her an unfriendly view of the court; it wasn’t like it was really any skin off his back to offer her the room for tonight—and they could see about what happened next in the morning after they’d gotten out of the rain and gotten a little time to sleep and think on the matter.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:56 pm
She appreciated the fact he was trying to make her feel better, but she did not want to talk about it. She never cried infront of people, she internalized everything and would mourn in her own way at her own passe. She was not too good at opening up to people, maybe a part of her wanted to scream and stamp her feet, but she did not have the energy or the will. She was trying to keep it together, if she didn't then she would break down and that would not be pleasant for either of them. "I am fine, In truth I don't really feel anything right now. I think being numb better than feeling sad." She stated, trying to smile, trying to show him that she would be okay. Trying to show herself that she would be okay.
Power down? Out here? She did not really want to. Maybe she was holding onto some hope her civilian clothes would still be dry, besides she did not have the energy to walk back. She detested physical contact, but a little now would be better than leaving him with her unconscious form. She did not like the idea of being carried back. "No it's okay, I will power down when we are inside. I just, really want to go to sleep." She nodded, stepping a little closer, but not too close, her body was cold with her exhaustion.
"I trust you... At the moment, I trust you more than anyone in the world... You are the only person I know." She stated looking to the side rather awkwardly, it was the truth, but also very strange to say out loud.
Quickly changing the topic she looked to face him once more. "Mirror walking, what do I have to do?" She asked, she had never even heard of that before....
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:51 pm
Trust was an important aspect—particularly to Remarque. He had a difficult time trusting others, and there were certain aspects of his personality that made him a very untrustworthy fellow to most.
Mjolnir had nothing to fear from him, though. Not tonight, at least. “You’ll meet the rest of the court, soon, I promise. Leto is the Vice Captain, she’ll want to meet you as soon as possible. She’ll probably have better advice than I do about starting over. Plus, she’s in charge of the new recruits, so she’ll make sure you’re taken care of. I’ll send her a text tomorrow and schedule a meet up. When you’re ready, though I’m not going to throw you at too many people at once. If you want to take a few hours, few days to just relax…power to you.”
A little relaxation was sounding good again, and the rain had a soothing effect on the Eternal Senshi. He wasn’t sure if he could go straight home and get to sleep, but at least this had been a fruitful endeavor.
“She’ll probably want to teach you all about mirror walking but, seeing as this seems like a prime example of show and tell, I don’t see the harm in a brief introduction.”
A warmer grin spread onto Remarque’s face. Mirror walking was a major perk of being a Dark Mirror Senshi and had become one of his favorite ways to start out the evening. “If I may,” he said, extending a hand to her.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 2:57 pm
So there was some kind of structure to this fraction, this was good, she liked order and organisation. This girl Leto seemed very important, she had a feeling that she would be seeing a lot of her in the near future. Maybe having a few days off was not the best of idea's, she wanted to distract herself and jumping into her new Senshi would do just that. What would she do if she took it easy? Sit around a feel sorry for herself? She did not want to do that, it was not fair on anyone, especially him.
She would make up her mind in the morning, for now she wanted to take one thing at a time. Who know, maybe after some sleep his suggested break might seem more appealing. It would give her time to sort out her new identity.
Either way it seemed she had a lot to learn, as both Mjolnir and Ophelia.
"Leto... like the titan." She finally stated to break the silence, she loved to research the Greeks, and knew quite a bit about the deities. Though admittedly since her own awakening her interest had turned onto the Norse. She wondered what Remarque meant, she would have to check it out at some later point in time. The brunette made a mental note to do so.
She looked over at him as he extended his hand to her. She lifted up her own, holding it close to her for a moment in hesitation, before reaching over and putting it in his. Still she avoided eye contact and her spine tinged with the touch, however she resisted the urge to pull away. If nothing else she was curious to see how this mirror walking worked.
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