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This night was a long time in the making. Since fleeing from Paris three days ago, Kallichore had not been answering her senshi cellphone. There were not return calls, no messages or voicemails to be left. The simple ringtone had gone ignored, as if it never existed in the first place. The phone was left floating in the oblivion of the dimension from which it came. Kallichore didn't want to hear from Ganymede or Valhalla or Pasiphae - the people who forbid killing in an effort to save the souls of those corrupted by Chaos. The eternal senshi didn't want to hear their words of worry, encouragement. They would have fallen on deaf and exhausted ears.

Sleep had been a fleeting mistress, Kallichore appearing even more haggard than she usually did. Three days with very little sleep were taking a heavy toll on her. Her face was gaunt, her movements listless. She wasn't patrolling, not this night. She was seeking, actively pinpointing and following high-ranking Chaos signatures for a singular warped purpose.

Relief.

It was in that moment the Chaos signature, very likely a General, had stopped moving. Another signature was nearby, someone much lower-ranked, and in an instant was snuffed out. Were she in her right mind, Kallichore would have sprung into action to avenge the death of someone from the side of Order, but not this night. Her heart did not clench, the strings of it weren't pulled at all. Stone cold and with a sigh, Kallichore lit on a nearby abandoned car in the parking lot not ten yards from what ended up being the final resting place of a senshi. Wolframite was the General standing over them, soul in his hand and she recognized him from her days in the Blood Moon Court.

When he was finished tearing the soul from that lifeless body, Kallichore hazarded hailing him. "Good evening, General Wolframite."

"I'm not interested in her. I'm interested in you, General." came an even reply.

Kallichore blinked, heavy-lidded, noting the blood on his weaponry, the heaving of his chest and the twinkle of a soul in his jacket pocket. The dead senshi's body lay in an eviscerated heap near the car on which Kallichore stood but the eternal paid it little mind. Instead, she gently stepped down from the roof of the car and stepped over the body, never once really looking down to see who it was, see if it was someone she recognized from nights past. If blood stained her fuku, she didn't notice as it was already its own kind of stained.

Her steps were slow, deliberate and her hands hung limp by her sides. If Wolframite decided to attack, Kallichore would evade but would put up no fight of her own. She wasn't interested in a battle tonight. "You will receive no quarrel from me, General. Keep the starseed. I'm just here to ask questions if you would give me an audience. If not, I will leave you to your night and find another General to speak to. That is all."

Stopping roughly six feet from Wolframite, she noted how small he looked versus the amount of sheer damage he could inflict. Yes, he definitely was the same Negaverse officer the older members of the Blood Moon Court had mentioned during Operation Rota. "Your perspective on the war is unique and that is what I am interested in, General Wolframite. Do we have a truce, or should I leave you be?"

"Very well."

Kallichore stayed put where she was, neither moving towards or away from the General, and simply spoke her mind. "My faith in the side of Order is waning. Trying to avenge her death by attacking you wouldn't fix anything. In fact, it would likely make things worse." And she knew all about the traps Wolframite was mentioning - while she wasn't awakened at the time of Rota, it was a point of pride within the Blood Moon. For a long time, Kallichore had idolized the bloodthirsty ways of the Blood Moon, thinking that killing and torture, an eye for an eye, was the only way to get things done.

Now that she was forbidden from taking life, she wondered what her purpose was in the war anymore. Like a cat without claws, Kallichore felt near helpless. "I've met several senshi under your care and knew a few of them who switched sides. Tell me, if you would, how you would feel about a senshi who has blood on their hands coming to your side of the war?" How would you feel about the one who took your eye?

She was specifically speaking of Lyra, who was a steadfast proponent of the Blood Moon before her change of heart and subsequent corruption. Kallichore had no blood on her own hands but that may change in the future. "I know Ares is now allied with the Negaverse and she had caused much trouble for you. How do you personally feel about that, Wolframite?"

Surprisingly, Kallichore took little to no offense at being called a little s**t. She was too exhausted and addled in her sleep-deprived state to care much about being called names. "For what it's worth, it is not my intention to prod about anything. I am simply asking what things are like on your side of the war, where killing is permitted and progress is actually actively being made."

With a sigh, the eternal shifted her weight but did not move from her spot per their arrangement. "It troubles me to know not many have been purified, if any at all. They say it's a possibility but no further information exists, therefore I am beginning to doubt that it's a possibility and believe that it's like the existence of the Moon Queen." She nearly spat on the ground at the sheer silliness of perpetuating a myth such as some celestial queen. "I am beginning to wonder if purification is nothing but propaganda spread among children to keep us occupied and hopeful. Without evidence I strongly question whether royalty can do anything at all."

"My work for my faction has done little to stave off corruptions, which was my goal in the first place. Every night, more and more switch sides and I wonder now whether fighting against your tides of Chaos is even worth the effort anymore. Is it more like a stream and we are but fish trying to swim against it? Are we doing nothing but wasting our time and energy?"

Touching her chest with a gloved hand, Kallichore posed another question to Wolframite, his offer tempting. "Tell me, I have heard rumors that corruption erases memory. Perhaps I shouldn't even call it corruption anymore as it carries such negative connotations. General Wolframite, I have not slept in days. I'm sure you may understand my predicament."

...a nice pile of corpses to stare at instead.

Somehow that thought was comforting.

"I see." she started, mulling over the information the General was kind enough to give. "That sort of doubtless conviction is something I have not had since the beginning." Since working under Ares, before she thought herself better than everyone else. Or perhaps she always thought that way? Thought that we were nothing but gutless White Moon pawns? Perhaps that is all we are. "Our royals are fleeting, appearing one moment, explaining their helplessness and ignorance and then disappearing again. It's frustrating to know those who would lead us do no such thing."

What Kallichore missed most was making progress, feeling as though her actions, however insignificant, were furthering some kind of goal. Under Ares and the Blood Moon, reports were taken, actions tallied. It was more like she presumed the Negaverse worked than the milling, listless senshi. That frustration, ever since she joined the Jovians, had been gnawing at her deeply. "I have so many memories I would rather forget." the eternal admitted, touching her tousled head softly. "Missed opportunities, failures, deaths that could have been prevented. I will admit, your offer is quite tempting. Would my services be of use to you? Or is this simply a numbers game?"

More than anything, Kallichore was desperate to matter again.

Listening to Wolframite's explanations and the fervor in his voice reminded Kallichore so much of the rigidity of the Blood Moon. It made her heart clench in remorse. Did she make the worst mistake of her life by not allowing Ares to baptize her? Would she have a purpose then?

Or would she just be allowing Ares to win? Kallichore didn't know anymore.

"I understand and thank you for the time you've given me. You've given me enough to make my decision. That was all I could ask for, General."

She sighed and swayed slightly in the wind, as if she wasn't strong enough anymore to bolster herself against it. "One may have a team but I am not certain. The other I have not seen in a long time, not since the ambush. I do not know if she has a team. All they would seem to say is that they don't know what they're doing and have offered us little in the way of guidance. Just pretty dresses and wings and blinding power signatures. I have to say I am extremely disappointed in them." The eternal shook her head, wincing. If she had the guts to simply tell them she thought they were failing as leaders then perhaps she wouldn't have been so disappointed to begin with. Princesses were elusive creatures, however.

"What is our goal every night? Heh." Kallichore chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. The General was right - they were nothing but children, milling about with ignorance. "Depends on the senshi. Obviously I can only speak for myself, and my goal is simply a purpose..."

Kallichore couldn't do much else than roll her eyes at the General's mention of meetings. "You mean, gatherings where the royals show themselves off and then tell us they know nothing? Yes, I remember those. I remember the masses milling around in these meetings, all with differing opinions and disagreements erupt and nothing gets done. Yes, those meetings. I feel like I've wasted so much of my time, General."

The eternal gave the General as graceful and respectful a bow as she could muster in her condition. "Kallichore. And your words will be considered very carefully. I'd rather not waste the power I have working for something I cannot achieve."

Kallichore nodded to Wolframite and turned to leave, stopping briefly at the body of the senshi she didn't have the ability to save. Leaning down, she scooped the girl up and leaped away, wondering if a graveyard would be more respectful a place for the girl than a parking lot.