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 Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 8:57 pm
(Backdated a bit ~ <3 )
It was weird to have a mind so restless, but a body so exhausted. It was like a special type of hell to have so much on the mind, but not be able to do anything about it.
The tomboy lost time as she remained in an unrestful sleep, not able to find the answers to the questions on her mind.
Why didn't it work? I did everything right...
Eventually, her eyelids fluttered open. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out a blob of indigo and a smaller blob of cool gray nearby.
"...okay... so what th'f*ck happened?..." was the hoarse question that escaped her lips.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:54 pm
"I was hoping you could tell me that."
Lydia had spent most of the day trying to piece things together. She thought about it at school, when she was supposed to be working on her portfolio project. It distracted her enough at work to mix up several orders and earn a scolding from the managers. And so after work, she had packed up some food- she never came to Ellie's house without bringing something to eat- and come to find some answers.
It worried her to see Ellie still so out of it. True, that had happened before, during purifications. But whatever had happened with that Negaverse agent on the roof, he had left with all of the Chaos he'd arrived with. But if it wasn't a purification, what was it?
"Could you tell me what you remember? I have a couple of guesses, but I can't know for sure until I hear your side of the story." Even then, Lydia still wasn't sure she would be able to understand.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 8:36 pm
Past experiences told Ellie that she'd be an idiot if she attempted to hoist herself up into a sitting position at this point. So she didn't even try. Her head rolled towards *********, noticing how the tailless animal seemed to be loafing near Lydia.
"...f*ckin' Parth..." was the first thing she muttered, which didn't really answer much in regards to the what had happened. She groaned slightly as she rolled her head back to looking at the ceiling.
"...He is safe, if that is your concern... he did receive a bit of damage, but it isn't anything drastic or lethal..." the manx offered from her spot on the bed.
"...naw... that ain't what I mean..." she grumbled before clarifying. "...I warned him before t'not pursue that captain... so what does he do? Pursue that f*cker by himself..." She shook her head at the memory, but not too vigorously. Ellie didn't need to exhaust herself.
"...I caught him... everythin' was happenin' so fast... I guess I thought... if Labyrinthite wasn't a part of the Negaverse anymore....... then the fight would stop..." Her voice dwindled, leaving the cat and the girl to ponder the conclusion for themselves.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 9:49 pm
Considering that Ellie was barely conscious, Lydia supposed she couldn't blame her much for being less than helpful. "I did know that much," she muttered. "Or at least, that he was there." It hadn't been easy, getting two injured senshi off of a rooftop, even working together with Psyche. And Iris had lost her henshin quickly, and Parthenope hadn't been much help beyond telling her that things were messed up. Which, considering the situation she'd found, had been pretty obvious.
What wasn't obvious was that Parthenope had pursued the Negaverse agent in question deliberately. Lydia pressed her lips together as Ellie called him out on going off by himself, glad that she hadn't been discovered on any of her solo missions. Though she liked to think she had more sense than to pursue someone stronger than she was, just to antagonize them. Her goals were loftier than that.
It sounded like Iris had purified the Captain in question, though. Which made no sense. "We could feel you from a ways away, Psyche and I. At least, I thought it was you. I recognized the level of energy, from Mister Kairatos. But when we got there, there were no knights. Just the one Negaverse agent, who wasn't in much better shape than you were."
Which meant one thing, as unbelievable as it seemed: somehow, Iris had failed.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 10:22 pm
Ellie didn't say anything to confirm Lydia's statements. She already knew it had failed, but that wasn't the thing that bugged her.
"...Cat..." she managed to say in a louder tone. "...I did everythin' like I did before... why didn't it work...?"
Unfolding her legs and standing up, the cat hopped into Lydia's lap. The blonde might not have had much energy, but this was definitely a heavy conversation. There was no way to lighten the mood, even if she wanted to sugar coat it all.
"I do not have a definite answer... your crystal is something far beyond my own comprehension, Ellie. However, I do have a theory as to why things may have turned out this way..."
Her voice almost seemed to pause, as if making sure the two girls were paying attention.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 10:43 pm
It was jarring to think of Iris failing at anything. Lydia knew it happened, of course. She hadn't wound up with a broken arm on purpose. But it was one thing to see a mistake, or at least the results of one, and quite another to see something done the right way and just not work.
"He seemed to be in pain," she recalled. "Mister Kairatos looked like he suffered some discomfort during the process, but he was okay at the end." Because purification was amazing and solved everything. When it worked. "But this one- Labyrinthite, was it?- he seemed to be in pain even after it was over." Though that might have been partly due to Psyche's kick. "Do you think that means anything?"
At least one of them had a theory. Lydia looked at ********* and nodded, eager to hear what it was.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 5:40 pm
Ellie didn't say a word, but she briefly nodded her head as well, waiting for ********* to offer her opinion on the matter.
In a clear, but well paced manner, the Mauvian attempted to verbalize her theories on the matter.
"Well, keep in mind the circumstances that led to each attempted purification up to this point. The attempt on Psyche happened after Psyche attempted to destroy her own starseed... clearly she was not happy with the Negaverse... she wanted a way out. And with Kairatos, if I have my facts correct, he approached Iris about the subject, he wanted out as well. And in this case, it sounds as if this Labyrinthite... probably did not want out of the Negaverse."
There was another pause before Ellie commented "Thanks fer th'history lesson... soooo...?"
The cat's head hung down briefly as she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Okay... so you remember those things called starseeds? Well... a starseed belonging to a corrupted senshi is flooded with chaos..." Clearly, the Mauvian had noticed this when she had been zapped by the corrupted starseed of Psyche over a year ago.
"I am under the impression that the starseeds of the other agents of the Negaverse are under a similar condition as well. When you use your crystal to 'purify' an agent, you are removing the chaos that was flooded into the starseed."
"...makes sense..."
Settling her haunches down in Lydia's lap, the manx continued with her explanation.
"Chaos takes many forms... sometimes in more blatant forms, like hatred and envy. However... it can take other forms... the one I will use in this case is doubt. Think of Chaos as pollution and think of a starseed as a reservoir of water. Purification should remove the impurities of Chaos in a starseed, but if doubt is lingering in a person's soul... well... even a speck of dirt in a reservoir of water makes the water polluted if you think about it..."
The chubby cat briefly paused long enough to lift a paw so she could chew slightly at an itch on her foreleg.
"Now, don't get me wrong... every person is prone to a bit of chaos in all honesty... and starseeds have a little give to such... it's just cleaning up a disaster like what the Negaverse has created in a starseed... things like doubt will make it difficult to clean..."
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:52 pm
Lydia was grateful for the way that ********* broke everything down. She ignored Iris' commentary for the most part, gently stroking the cat in her lap as she listened. Most of it made sense. Though she hadn't seen Psyche before her purification, she remembered ********* telling her about the events leading up to it. And Mister Kairatos had, she recalled, sought Iris out specifically. In one way or another, they both wanted the Chaos out of their starseeds.
She shuddered at the thought of a starseed- a heart, more or less- being drowned in hatred and sorrow. It was hard to imagine anyone living like that, and easy to see why people would want to change their circumstances, if they were stuck in such a state. So why weren't the forces of the Negaverse fleeing in droves? How could anyone be okay with darkness gripping their soul?
Not just okay with it- these people seemed to want it, to need it. And that was something Lydia really couldn't understand.
"But..." Her voice wavered as she tried to get her thoughts organized. "But Psyche didn't purify intentionally, did she? I mean, she wanted out, and I'm glad it all worked out the way it did! But if she was as upset and confused as you say, wouldn't that constitute a measure of doubt as well? So why was it so different for her and for this Labyrinthite person? He... he can't be happy with things the way they are, can he? With all those bad things in his starseed?"
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:11 pm
As a reminder, the cat purred out "...I did say it was a theory... I don't have the definite answers... but if I were to guess... you have to want out."
The blonde turned away from the group as she seemed to absorb the theory. She really didn't have the strength for it at the moment, but she still ended up bringing a hand to her head to rub at her temple lightly.
"...chaos... f*cks with ya... my bet is it's like drugs... makes ya think yer enjoyin' yerself, but yer f*ckin' yer body up... poor f*ckers probably don't even realize what they're doin' to themselves..."
********* rolled her head about to assist Lydia to reach a spot beneath the feline's chin. "A good point... and there are people out there that seem to thrive off of negativity. The only way to make themselves happy is to unleash some sort of misery on others."
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:41 pm
She hadn't expected ********* to have all the answers, not really. But that just brought them back to the same question. Why would anyone be happy in such a situation? Lydia tensed, about to ask- and then stopped, as Ellie's words sent fresh shivers down her spine.
Much as she tried to ignore it, she knew that there were people who took pleasure in causing pain to others. She had seen bullies in school, though they rarely chose her as a target, since she was usually under close watch from the teachers. And, well, part of her had always thought that if you refused to be bullied, they couldn't hurt you.
The Negaverse seemed to ignore that rule. Ellie's drug metaphor, crude though it was, summed things up well. One had to be warped in order to accept such treatment. And it was inflicted on agents regardless of their willingness to submit. How could they combat such a pervasive force?
Come to think of it... "If Chaos really does change people so drastically that they can't see the damage they're causing themselves, how did Mister Kairatos become conscious enough to want to get away?" Lydia shook her head and scratched ********* behind the ears. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to contradict you, it's just... well, if the Negaverse has that kind of power over people, how are we supposed to fight against it?"
Senshi of Peace she may have been, but surely she wasn't meant to stand idly by and allow such abuse. It was unthinkable.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:59 pm
The manx easily chirped in "Oh no, that's fine, Lydia!" It was a rather intense subject, and they were only piecing together what they could scrap up, which would never truly explain things in depth.
"I suspect it has a lot to do with rank if anything... as you have probably noticed, the higher the rank of an officer, the more of a chaotic aura they give off... Those of lower ranks are probably not under the influence as much as those of higher ranks. Plus, you also have to account for the individual as well, for each starseed is different, thus why many tend to liken them to the soul."
Ellie groaned, but it didn't have anything to do with the explanation that ********* offered.
"...We can't let this information get out..."
There was no explanation, but it sounded like something was weighing upon the blonde's mind.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 10:23 pm
"But this man was a Captain, right? So was Mister Kairatos, so why... I just don't understand!" This was so complicated, and Lydia hated not knowing what had happened. Ellie was bedridden again, and Parthenope was hurt, and somewhere, a Captain was hurting. So were all of his comrades, whether they realized it or not. And without knowing why, there was nothing that any of them could do about it, other than sit and speculate and hope that they weren't just blowing hot air.
She was angry now, and upset, and she could feel her fists clenching. That was a bad sign. Lydia paused and took a deep breath, and then another, before speaking again. "So do you think that if Iris had tried that with a Lieutenant, it would have worked? Is that why she was able to purify Psyche, even though Psyche may have had doubts?" More assumptions, but she had to try something.
Ellie's words confused her even more. "Why shouldn't we share this? We know there are other advocates of purification. Wouldn't this be useful information for them to have?" She knew, from the meeting, that there weren't many who were on Iris' level, and capable of such a feat. Still, there were others, and she didn't want to let anyone else make such a painful error.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 10:59 pm
The cat stood up for a moment and seemed to circle in Lydia's lap. "I am afraid I don't have the answer to that one, Lydia. I mean, we could always have Iris attempt it at some point... but, as you see... it's not exactly easy on her, so asking her to do these things for the sake of knowledge... well... I probably wouldn't advise it." The manx giggles a bit, clearly not trying to scold.
The blonde sighed as Lydia attempted debates. It was already hard enough to concentrate on the conversation without drifting back to sleep. However, Ellie was willing to accept the challenge and would continue to struggle to keep up.
"...the other Princesses... sure... they should know... but I'll take care of that... but everyone else...? Let's just sh*t on their morale... or let the Negaverse truly know that they have the upper hand..."
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:10 pm
Of course, Lydia had no desire to have Iris run more tests. Not if they ended like this. But that meant that she still wouldn't know. How was she supposed to act, when she had no idea what was going on?
And what was Ellie going on about? If they were agreed that the princesses should know, then why-
"Let's just sh*t on their morale... or let the Negaverse truly know that they have the upper hand..."
Lydia paled as she processed this statement, trying to gather the courage she needed to ask the one question that had to be asked: "Do you think the Negaverse is winning?"
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 5:22 pm
The room was quiet for a good two minutes after Lydia asked her question. It was not an easy question to answer by any means. The cat seemed far more content remaining quiet as she settled into the girl's lap, perhaps waiting for Ellie to give an answer.
When the blonde finally spoke, the answer wasn't exactly simple.
"It was hard to tell for a while as to who was 'winning'... so far it seems as if things are a standstill. I need to talk to Kairatos about his memories of the Negaverse... maybe get an insider scoop on what is going down... but if you consider the fact that the Negaverse just takes who they want... well... that in itself is telling."
The guardian's ear flicked slightly at Ellie's words. Without hesitation, she did add something else as a bit of "food for thought."
"...also... this is just a guess on my part, but I think the Negaverse must be spread about the world a bit more than the senshi right now... I mean, I am under the impression that Psyche was from Greece... and based off how poor her English is... I don't think she was the well-traveled sort. Very unlikely she was discovered in Destiny City... there's a chance she may have been discovered her... but... I am not sure."
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