Welcome to Gaia! ::

She was just an old ghost, wandering alone through hallways, past faces she didn't recognize. The world changed around her, constantly shifting and evolving but she watched from a distance, left untouched by the ebb and flow of time. She detached herself from it, made her appearances less and less. Some of the captains she passed had never even set eyes on her before. She could be forgotten, she realized.

Just an old ghost.

The trails of her wispy cape skirted along the floor, weighed down by the thick braids of her long dreads. Her heels announced her presence long before her face ever appeared, bouncing echoes of her steps along the corridors. Yet any curious face was dismissed, passed over and forgotten. Her bright eyes glanced at them as if they were little more than fixtures in the wall.

And yet.. she slowed down as she approached an old door. It was rather unremarkable as far as doors went - it looked like every other door along the halls of the Negaverse. But she stopped none-the-less, staring at the handle like she was seeing through it, using it as a conduit for a glimpse into her past.

Alkaid's entire reaction was a simple recalculation of her feet, a swift shuffle backwards. The door finished it's arc, swung inches by her face but cleared, then was quickly retracted by a panicking.. senshi?

Alkaid's head tilted slightly in surprise as she stared, once more, at the door. This time, however, she stared at the area where she'd seen his face briefly, almost as if she could see right through it.

"I'm unharmed," she called out, at the same time as she reached for the door handle. One hand half raised to touch the door knob, to pull it open and examine the new corrupt she had somehow failed to meet, but for a brief moment she wondered if she'd really been gone that long. Time did seem to flow differently when you couldn't sleep. So her hand faltered and she tucked it quietly behind her back with the other one, realizing that ripping open a door in her current state might not go over to well with someone.. unaccustomed to her.

"You can come out now, senshi."

Alkaid liked to think she had been through far too much to get offended by such simple things. She might have been losing her grip on the finer parts of humanity, but she still understood that it would be a long while before the fledgeling senshi before her learned to stop being surprised at the things around him.

"How innocent you are, still," she smiled lightly, a simple curve of her lips. One hand rose and perched on his shoulder, the fingers of her hand squeezing softly in reassurance. Her flesh was not soft and warm, but hardened and so hot it was evident through the layers of his fuku. "There is nothing anyone can do for me, not any more." Her hand slipped off his shoulder and she turned away from him. The click of her heels against the stone beneath her was accompanied by the soft brush of her cloak along the floor. "This is just the price you pay for total allegiance."

Then she stopped and glanced back at him, one brow raised in query, as if she had suddenly realized he hadn't followed her. It had been a long time since she'd had to openly explain herself to anyone. "Come along then, this way. I'll take you to the main corridor."

It was evident that she was as peculiar as her outward appearance suggested she'd be. She was simply the ghost of someone that was, which made the fledgeling senshi more right than he knew. Now she was a soldier, with no memory of really having ever been anything else.

As he caught up with her and began to pour a thousand questions in her direction, she caught herself feeling the faintest trace of pride. It wasn't often that others were eager to know things, to be better prepared, and it pleased her that he was curious now - even as uncomfortable as she clearly made him.

"Vespa, hm?" Wasps. That sounded like a power they could really use against the order. He had been a good recruit.

She stopped mid step and whirled to face him, her cloak flying around her and the bat wings attached to her lower spine twitching with the movement. Then she slowly reclined her head, an acknowledgement of the introduction.

"I am Ascendant General Alkaid, Formerly the Negaverse Senshi of Guidance." She stood back up and began her path down the corridor again, fiery orange eyes focused on finding her way out of the labyrinth-like fortress. "And total allegiance means giving everything up to the negaverse. It's a tricky thing to do, you actually have to try very hard." She shrugged her shoulders a little, but the smile on her lips was peculiar. "So it's not likely to happen to all of you, no."

Alkaid's surprise at the question was marked by the soft scuff of one shoe along the floor as she unexpectedly stopped. It was in that moment that Alkaid realized how long she had been living like a wraith. Her sacrifice was written in volumes of the past that had already closed.

"Oh, well, I suppose you wouldn't have any reason to know my story now would you?" A thoughtful look passed over her face as she glanced at him over her shoulder, studying him silently through her softly glowing eyes. A crack on the side of her face flickered to light, hauntingly lighting the crevice in her pale skin for a split moment. Then she simply motioned for him to continue following her as she made a pointed left turn at an intersection of hallways.

"When I was recruited to the negaverse there were not so many of us and I was unsure of what use I could provide to my leaders, bless their starseeds." Her bright eyes focused ahead of them as she spoke, seeing some minute difference in the hallways and navigating from memory. "I began to lament my lack of knowledge and was so sure that if I could unlock the mysteries of my heritage, of my power, that.. I could be a better soldier."

Her pace slowed as she talked, finding an easy peace in retelling her tale for the first time in years. Her face was passive and unreadable for the most part, but a fine 'v' between her brows suggested she was pensive. "During a time of great need, I met a phenomenal cosmic power by the name of Kurma." A very slight curl of her upper lip suggested a fondness, at least so far as the broken china doll could feel it. "He sought to enlighten me and thus, he took me to my planet. But once I was there, so was Metallia, for it is her dark energy that feeds us all."

She took another right without preamble. She simply took a curve into the hallway and expected him to keep up. It was a long time before she spoke again, weighing her words and considering the best way to phrase the most defining moment of her entire existence.

"She asked me for my star and I gave it to her. It is a gruesome process, but this," she stopped at another intersection of hallways, though this one appeared more significant, and spread her arms wide so that he could take in her entire appearance, "is what the result is."

Then she simply lowered her arms.

"Power has consequence."

"No."

The answer was immediate, spoken without an ounce of hesitation, because (all gray areas aside) Alkaid did not regret sacrificing anything that would help the cause.

"But that does not mean I can't mourn who I was, or the things that a young woman always looks forward to." She laced her fingers together and let her hands fall against her torso. She seemed to consider him for a moment, bright eyes focused on him but looking more than simply at him. She was weighing and judging in her silence, with a poker face no mortal would ever crack.

"It is not in all of us to sacrifice everything for what we believe in. It is a path some choose to take, like any other, and I can only hope my sacrifices will aid our cause as much as those made by leaders before us." Here she did smile, a very small, slight smile that thankfully did little to rearrange the features of her fractured face. "Before you even think about sacrifice, first think about faith." She reached out carefully, as if she might touch his face, but stopped only inches short. Her hand remained paused there, as if his energy might tell her something she wanted to know.

"Find your reason for fighting this war and the rest will fall into place." Then she turned her head and, with the hand that had been awkwardly hovering near his face, pointed down the newer, larger hallway they had stopped in.

"If you follow this hallway all the way to the end, you'll be where you want to go."