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 Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:48 pm
It had been on her mind since the last time she visited the homeworld of Psyche. With only a year's worth of memories as Anemone Gray, the visions and memories she found on Psyche weren't nearly as confusing to her as they might have been other senshi as the memories of their past conflicted with the memories of their current life. She didn't have to sort through them and instead the memories of her life on Psyche seemed to take hold of her and bury deep into her mind where old memories of her life as Theodora might have once been.
Most of the memories she received as gifts from her asteroid conformed into her thoughts and simply went dormant as memories until recalled, but this particular memory was haunting her. Like a siren's song on across the brisk sea air, soon the memory became the focus of her thoughts, and it simply wouldn't go away. She was drawn to it, pulled to its existence in her mind.
She had to go back.
She had to find out what this all meant.
She didn't know what to expect though, and she didn't know when she'd be back. She'd seen Ellie pack a bag before but never in her life had she ever had to. She found herself simply staring at the bag with an unsure expression on her face, swinging back and forth as her body moved from side to side. What was she suppose to put in it? If she had memories of her life as Theodora, this might have been reminiscent of the day she was packing to leave for Destiny City. What did she bring to a whole new country? She had to leave so much behind and relocate in the name of the Negaverse. Would she repeat the same mistakes here?
Many questions flooded Anemone's head as she thought about what she was about to do. Could she call home to Ellie? Could Rainbowface bring her things she'd forgotten and needed? She couldn't count on it, could she? She really wanted to. She needed that buffer in her life for those things she lacked such as memories of her life before this. She could gain all the memories her mind could handle at Psyche of her life before that but they would never replace the ones she lost. They would never replace the ones that were still relevant.
Essentials might have been missed in the process but after several hours of doubt and struggles, Anemone had finished packing what she needed to bring. She had two bags ready to go when she'd finished packing. One bag had necessary items such as a first aid kit, a sleeping bag and a hair brush while the other bag was filled with bottled water, food and a set of cutlery to eat said food with if necessary.
It was still early in the day when Anemone took her two packed bags and left the Spectre House. Turning to face the house once again, she wondered how long she'd be gone until she found the answer to her vision. A day? Two days? Three days? A week? She cringed at the thought that it might be any longer before she began to walk toward an empty, and quiet place. She didn't draw any suspicious up as Anemone Gray but she'd have to power up to Sailor Psyche to get where she needed to go.
It was an abandoned warehouse that Anemone had decided on. With no one there and a roof to hide under, it was the perfect location. She set her bags on the ground and held her henshin pen to her chest. ********* had given this to her, and now she was leaving. She wanted to take ********* with her! She didn't want to be away but this was something she had to do alone, she could just feel it!
"Psyche Asteroid Power Make-Up!" Ringed a heavily accented voice through the walls of the abandoned warehouse.
Summoning her phone from subspace, the senshi leaned down and scooped up her bags. She paused for a minute upon doing it, shifting the bag from shoulder to shoulder as if gauging something. It felt different now. Her hand squeezing around the phone's edge, she couldn't help but wonder why it was different now that she was powered up as Sailor Psyche. Now wasn't the time to wonder though, not as she was leaking an aura for anyone powered to feel. Monsters would be drawn to it and that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.
She closed her eyes, and soon the warehouse was empty again.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:49 pm
The asteroid was the same as ever except for one minor detail: The skies were black and the winds were howling all around. As if hailing the storm itself, Sailor Psyche appeared upon the previously empty asteroid with two bags swinging in her arms. Balls of hair blew wildly against the wind, and the bags that swung in her arms were raised up as she shielded her face away from the wind.
Sharp grey eyes darted around the area as the senshi attempted to decipher what was going on. Why was it so windy? It wasn't like this any of the other times she had come here! If Psyche had full memories of her asteroid, she'd realize that it was currently wind season in the southern hemisphere of Psyche. Wind season happened during the Earth equivalent of February to May, and it was marked by strong winds blowing the warm southern air to the cooler northern hemisphere.
With the winds the way they were at the moment, Psyche had no choice but to find shelter. Somewhere. Anywhere. She pressed her body into the winds, forcing her way through the current as best as she could. She took each step slowly, looking around her as she direly sought out shelter from the winds. It wasn't an easy journey, and she searched the Sacred Grounds of Psyche for what must have been hours until finally finding a cave. She couldn't be sure what time it was but if she looked at her phone she'd see that it was already late in the evening.
It didn't matter what time it was though, or how far she had walked to get to this point. It didn't matter whether she'd only taken a few steps or walked ten miles because she was exhausted, and she was extremely grateful to have found anything at all after all the time spent searching. With a few steps into the cave and out of the wind, Psyche pressed her body against the wall of the cave and took a moment to breathe. It was strange! The air on Psyche felt so much better than the air on Earth. It was strange. She had known the air on Earth for her entire life but the air on this asteroid felt better. It went deep into her lungs and explored the very foundation of her body. She felt whole, and renewed with each breath.
The journey was taking a toll on Psyche, and soon she found herself going further away from the entrance of the cave and unrolling the sleeping bag she'd brought with her. She was so tired, and as she unrolled the sleeping bag onto the floor of the cave she found herself counting the seconds it took her to do so. As the seconds passed by, her body longed more and more for the bed that was upon her. She couldn't think about food, nor her mission here. She had barely even gotten settled in, her body not even settled properly into the sleeping bag, before she was gone.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:51 pm
Despite sleeping on top of a sleeping bag inside of a cave while a storm of winds howled outside, Sailor Psyche had slept the best she had in a year. She would have stayed asleep there where she was but she could hear something shuffling around the cave. She didn't make any sudden movements, her ears listening carefully to determine where the source of the sound was coming from. Was it in front of her? Was it behind her? She had to get a good idea of where it was before she could get any sort of advantage over the situation.
She needed it. After all, she was trapped in a cave with whatever it was and going back to Earth while running away simply wasn't an option. If she wanted to go back, she had to kill or trap whatever was in here before it did the same to her. With such thoughts on her mind, she waited carefully. However, she could only wait so long before she felt something brush against her face.
Her eyes snapped open and she flung back, her balls of hair swinging in the air from her sudden motion. The sound of a scream could be heard as it echoed through the cave but it wasn't her voice that had echoed through the cave. Her eyes narrowed at her subject and she found herself showing a rather confused expression. She might not have had anything in mind when she heard the sound of something in the cave with her but she definitely knew what she hadn't been expecting.
"Iris cat?" The voice of the senshi of breath asked with confusion. Was she seeing things?
She wasn't seeing things. She had not accidentally ingested any sort of hallucinatory plant while here, nor was the air toxic. She was hungry and the air was cleaner and clearer than any air on Earth. Despite what she thought was her better judgement, what her eyes were seeing were in fact the truth. Somehow the guardian cat Thetis was here on the asteroid with her, and he was more puffed up than a seeding dandelion.
The sound of his heavy, panted breathing could be heard but not a word escaped his lips. His small body shivered and shook, and he feared what was going to happen. He hadn't thought this through. He hadn't had time to really consider things. Thetis didn't even know that Psyche was going to be gone as long as she planned to be. He began getting an idea when he realized she was sleeping here, and just how much supplies she had brought along, but he didn't know her intentions.
He just wanted to be with her. He missed her so much and yet it didn't seem to matter. It was always *********, and he wanted to prove to her (and himself) that he could be just as good as *********. It wasn't going well though. In fact, this was a horrible way to start proving anything to her!
"IRIS CAT! WHY? WHAT?" She was irritated and his silence was not well received by the senshi.
"I'mnotIris'cat..." sounded a whimper from the guardian cat as he lowered his body, wincing away from the method in which Psyche paced around him. It was hard to ignore the balls of hair that swung around, and if he had been any other cat he might have enjoyed the toying sensation that overwhelmed him. He didn't want to play though, and instead the guardian cat wanted to crawl under a rock and cry.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:52 pm
"Wait for me!" Called a drawn out voice from behind Sailor Psyche.
She had long since left the cave and was now on her way towards the Holy Well of Eros, or what was more commonly referred to as some water Sailor Psyche had seen in her vision. It was the sight that haunted her mind, a memory she couldn't escape from even while on Earth. Repeating the sight of her vision wouldn't be an easy task for her though. Not only were there pools of water all over this place but she also couldn't visualize everything perfectly. It was like something had been obscuring her vision in the vision.
Water.
She didn't know it but water had obscured her vision. The vision had been from the first arc of her ascension quest but aside from the obscured vision by water, the memories of that time were also blurred and partial. It was like looking for a particular piece of hay in a haystack. How could she determine one pool of water over the others? What made this pool of water so special that it haunted her mind like a plague?
"Please!" Cried a voice from behind her, hoarse and panting. "Wait!"
Snapping out of her trance, Psyche paused for a moment. Did she hear something? Nope, didn't seem like it. She couldn't be too far now, could she? She continued walking, leaving the small cat to chase after her desperately until his little paws couldn't move anymore. Fortunately for him, Psyche had also decided to stop by a nearby spring.
It was a very serene place with large rocks all around the area and an old set of buildings laid out in the distance. They seemed to be attached to the mountainside, tucked away from the springs but still in good view of it. She was unsure about their purpose but it wasn't really important since they had lost that purpose over 1,000 years ago. The rocks around the spring still had a purpose, even after 1,000 years, and that purpose was to seat Psyche's derriere.
Initially she shifted her weight upon sitting down, discovering she had sat down upon the butt bow of her fuku. Adjusting had been even less successful as her motions met a tearing sound, rendering half of the bow torn from her fuku, exposing her backside to the cool air. A shiver ran down the senshi's spine as her arms tried to fix what was seemingly amiss but to no ********," was the word that escaped her lips as she discovered what had happened. Good job, Iris, good job.
What to do? She thought about it briefly before she dug around inside of one of the backpacks and pulled out her unicorn sweater. An unnecessarily large grin across her lips, the senshi pushed her arms and head through the hoodie before adjusting it down her back to cover the tear. She thought about it for a minute before deciding that this was so much better. Why couldn't her fuku have an unicorn theme to it?!
"How look?" The senshi stood up and turned to face the guardian cat, asking him his opinion.
His response? Harsh panting.
Her response to his response? The senshi leaned down and poked the guardian cat repeatedly in the face until he sat up.
"Alive. Gud."
Who knows what Rainbowface would do if she didn't bring her cat back to her alive?
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:55 pm
Psyche didn't want to waste time. If she was going to take a break, then she was going to eat lunch as well. She wasn't sure how long she would need to make the food last and she hadn't expected any company on the trip. How much did cats eat? What did cats eat? She glanced to Thetis, who was finally sitting up right and not stretched across the ground like a doormat, and wished that she had brought some green peas to share with him. She didn't know what he liked other than that but she knew how much he liked peas. He had practically jumped for joy during that last time she gave them to him.
It was a shame.
Truly a shame.
Instead of those wonderful balls of green flesh, Thetis would have to make do with the sliced bread and butter. It wasn't much but Thetis was lucky she was even feeding him whens he had to worry about her own welfare! He should have brought his own food if he wanted to go on vacation to Psyche! Making things simple, Psyche ate some of the bread with butter with an addition of an apple as well. It wasn't much but she was only on her first day with no idea how long it would take before her questions were answered.
A small lunch wouldn't take long and then when her stomach was satisfied she would be able to continue on her search. She was just finishing the last of her apple when the wind began to blow much stronger than it had been previously. Contents of her open bag begun to spill out, and soon the noise of a metal can hitting the rocks along the edge of the spring caught Psyche's attention. Grey eyes stared with a a mix of horror and annoyance before she tossed the apple core onto the ground and began to chase the contents of her bag down. The wind made it into a game and very quickly Psyche decided she did not like this game.
She didn't want to waste energy needlessly but food was sort of essential so Psyche had to play along with the game. It took a bit but soon she finally neared completion, standing ankle deep in the water of the spring to retrieve the last of her supplies. She bent down to pick up the can that had rolled into the shore and seemed to freeze in her spot. She didn't move, and soon Thetis grew concerned over it.
"Psyche...?" The meek voice announced hesitantly as he approached.
What Thetis didn't know was that Psyche had a glimpse into the past. It was short, and soon her body reeled backwards. She fell onto the spring, splashing the guardian cat on the shore. She didn't seem to realize that he was there, not until he let out of yowl. The sound drew her attention to him, and she couldn't help but laugh when she seen him. He just looked so different! He always wanted to make Psyche laugh, to make her happy, but this wasn't how he wanted to do it.
Tail lowered to the ground, Thetis moved away from the shore and toward the supplies. He thought about crawling back into the bag he'd arrived in and hiding but he didn't want to make Psyche angry if he got her sleeping bag wet. He opted to lay beside the supplies (obviously he would protect them), watching as Psyche followed beside him. She put the can back into the bag with the rest of the supplies and then securely closed it shut.
"Psyche know do," she said proudly, but Thetis could only offer her a look of confusion before she skipped off to the shore again.
Thetis watched her briefly before he attended to his own needs, tediously licking himself dry. Whether it was fortunate or not, Thetis turned away just in time to miss Psyche stripping off her boots, leggings, and gloves and then walking into the water of the spring. She shivered at first, clenching her hands to the chest. It was quite cold at first, and it took time to get adjusted to the temperature. She didn't understand that she would find it warmer if she just took the plunge because she'd never gone swimming before. Or perhaps more appropriate, she had no memories of ever having gone before.
Waist in, Psyche looked into the water around her. It was clear enough that she could see the bottom but just what was she looking for? She remembered a rock that was unnaturally smooth and round, and she remembered having to go to the depths of this spring. Was the rock down there? There was only one way to tell. Taking a deep breath, Psyche took the plunge into the water. It was cold at first but quickly her temperature leveled and she felt warmer than she had previously.
A sign to continue, she began to swim down.
Honestly? It wasn't hard to spot a pedestal with a unusually round rock sitting on top of it at the bottom of the spring. It looked just like the one in her vision, and the timeless feeling that coursed through her upon seeing it with her own eyes drew her closer to it. It felt right, and she couldn't bring herself away. Unfortunately, she had to return to the surface to get more air.
A deep breath could be heard as her head breached the surface, along with a howling voice from the shoreline.
"ARE YOU OKAY?"
"I WAS LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU."
"I THOUGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Grey eyes met the worried green ones with light annoyance before she waved her hand to him, took a big breath and dove back under the water. She left Thetis with his mouth stuck open, pondering on his luck. Did all cats have it this hard? It felt like every minute with her was cutting into his timeless lifespan here.
"Psyche...?"
Perhaps if he was ********* then Psyche would listen? It was a thought that haunted Thetis as he stared at the water's surface as the ripples from Psyche disappeared before him. Under the water, Psyche found herself with both hands on the rock. It felt comforting, like it belonged with her, and that simple feeling was all she needed to have fuel the burning desire to aquire it. It didn't matter that it was a rock, or that it was at the bottom of this spring.
No, she had to have it.
She gripped onto the rock tightly and began to pull. Simply swimming back up with it seemed like more work than she could handle so instead she used its weight to keep her on the floor of the Holy Well, and then walked it to the shore. It was too far to do in one trip though, and Psyche had to leave the rock behind to make a trip to the surface for air.
It felt so nice to gasp, taking in the air as she breached the surface of the water. It felt so nice to linger on the surface, simply breathing in the cool Psyche air. Thetis was not enjoying things quite so much though, and when Psyche dove back under the surface without a word to him the small guardian cat began to pace back and forth.
What was he going to do? Communication was important between senshi and guardian cats! WHAT WAS HE GOING TO DO? OH MY MAU! OH MY MAU! WHAT IF... WHAT IF? Thetis couldn't even finish that thought. He promptly found himself heaving on the shore, wishing air would fill his lungs and bring him the joy that Psyche had just felt. He was going to fail, he was a failure. Psyche knew it, didn't she? He knew she did. It was clearly why she hated him so much.
It explained everything.
Away from the panicking guardian cat, Psyche was making the last tread of her trip. Her arms and legs tired of pulling, her lungs tired of holding themselves full and her eyes just wanted to block out the water from her view. She was putting so much work into this, and giving guardian cats panic attacks, and for what? A rock! She found herself staring at it once she got far enough into the shore that she could touch the bottom and breath at the same time. The battle was over but was it worth it?
She found herself smiling, basking in the familiar warmth that seem to radiate from the rock. It was worth it. It was so worth it. She didn't know how it was worth it yet but it was definitely worth it. Thetis probably didn't agree but she didn't even acknowledge him as she walked by anyway. She had carried out of the water, past the guardian cat and then dropped it on the ground near her supplies. She didn't wait very long before she joined the rock, collasping nearby.
"PSYCHEEEEEEEEE," was last sound she heard before exhaustion hit the senshi, pulling her consciousness from her and dragging it into the dream world. Leaving Thetis alone to his whims, he paced around her with panic until his small body laid down upon Psyche's breathing chest. She was alive, and the gentle motion and of her sleeping breath rocked the black guardian cat to sleep.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 9:00 pm
Frustration had settled in. Psyche had retrieved the rock but she had no idea what it was she was supposed to do with it. Simply having it didn't explain anything, and she seemed to have more questions now than when she began her quest here. Why had she been having visions of a rock, and why was it at the bottom of that spring? It didn't make sense to her! She felt like she was missing something!
Folding her body dramatically over the rock, Psyche rolled over it and then over again as she flopped onto her back. Grey eyes stared wide at the sky, watching as the clouds blew across the her view. Were the clouds here the same as the clouds on Earth? Was she missing something when she was on Earth? She stared up at the sky in hopes that the answer would appear before her but instead all she got a pair of green eyes and curly black fur obscuring her view.
She sat up, looking at the mountains in the distance. She didn't know what was over there, and curiosity got the better of her. She decided to go for it. It was definitely better than just sitting here. However, carrying a rock over the mountains was no easy task. It had taken an entire day to reach the summit, and then another day to reach the shoreline. By the time Psyche and Thetis had reached the ocean, there seemed to be no where left to go. Grey eyes looked at the ocean around her, and green eyes peered over Psyche's shoulder from her backpack. She had long since grown tired about his slow pace and shoved his small, guardian cat body into her backpack.
Thetis didn't mind. In fact, the guardian cat enjoyed being so close to Psyche. Happy enough to be closer to her, the light sound of him purring could be heard from the guardian cat as he rubbed his face against the back of Psyche's sailor collar. In doing so, his cat eyes caught sight of something in the distance.
"Psyche..." he whispered, catching the senshi's attention.
"WHAT?" She said suddenly, spinning around to look at him before realizing she only had to tilt her head back.
"Look," he said meekly, lifting his paw up in the direction of the ocean. That was suspicious, right?
In the distance, a small bridge of rocks could be seen under the waves of the ocean. It was hard to see, but there was a path there. It was enough to cause Psyche to walk toward it, her feet hitting the water as she walked into the ocean. She didn't go in too deep before she hit the bridge of rocks and began following the path. She wasn't sure where it would take her but it felt right. She followed foot after foot, step after step, until she stopped in the middle of the ocean.
She looked behind her, barely able to make out the mountains behind her. In the distance she could not see any signs of land, and all around her she could see whirlpools collecting all of the water around the rock bridge that cut through the ocean. It was interesting the way this world worked and Psyche found herself admiring the view as she continued to walk along the path.
The sun was setting when she got her first sight of land in the distance, and by the time she was up close and personal with the cliff face the sun had set and Psyche could see a glow coming from a crack in the cliff face. Psyche didn't make any remark to Thetis about the new sight but Thetis jumped out of his home in her backpack and peered over her shoulder to get a better look. However, as Psyche began to walk closer to the crack in the wall, Thetis began to freak out.
"WHAT?" Psyche demanded, only to stop when she realized the the crack was too tight to slide in through with the backpack on her back.
"AH," she said with a hint of recognition.
She slowly slid the backpack off her back and shuffled it into her arm, looking down at Thetis as he settled back down in the backpack, before she began sliding into the crack in the wall from the side. It was a tight fit, causing the small guardian cat's green eyes to widen with panic. He tightened his body, his fur fluffing up as the two of the descended deeper into the depths of the crack. After a couple hundred feet, the crack opened up into a large cave filled with water.
"Ahhhhhhhh," Psyche said with exasperation as her thighs hit water, her arms holding all her bags up as Thetis began squealing with panic as his tail dipped into the water.
"SHHHHH," she said, holding everything up so nothing but the guardian cat's tail got wet from the sudden water level. Well, nothing but herself at least.
She might have been focused on Thetis but it wasn't long before her eyes darted around as she pushed her way through the cave without direction. They were in a cavern but but it wasn't dark! Over the length of the ceiling and over the walls were phosphorescent crystals that glowed a soft pink light. It was beautiful, like there was a starry sky above her within the walls of the cave.
"Do you... do you know where we're... going?" A meek voice chimed in from the backpack.
Silence.
Psyche was concentrating on where she was going but eventually the silence broke as she said, "No."
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 9:01 pm
The cave was long and wet but eventually Psyche found her way at the other end. Thetis appreciated her effort to keep him dry, and thanks to that effort everything else was dry too. She was exhausted when she got to the top of yet another new cliff though, and soon she quickly dropped everything on the ground before throwing her body beside it. What was with this place? It seemed to be almost entirely uphill!
"Psycheeeee," a meek voice chimed in as Psyche's eyes finally closed shut. She was so tired. She felt herself drifting away to the sound of Thetis' voice as he asked something she couldn't properly hear or processing. The shrill of his voice went unanswered as she fell into her body's desire for sleep. How long had she been walking for? It didn't matter anymore.
A long time seemed to pass before her eyes opened. Time had stood still, and she found herself no longer asleep on the ground. She found her grey eyes peering out toward the ocean from the edge of the cliff, the rock she'd carried all the way here in between the palm of her two hands. It felt heavier than before, and as her eyes drifted down to inspect the rock, she realized her hands were smaller. Something was different. She had no control over her body as the she pulled away from the cliff side.
Things were familiar but still so different.
"Where art though, Thetis?" She said softly, her body turning around to meet a familiar black body as it scurried toward her.
"We're off to the Shore of Panm now. It's not too far from here, just across the way!" He said, pausing a little as he danced between Psyche's feet as her eyes followed him carefully. "Have you ever been over there? I know you've been to the Temple in Jane but have you been to the shore? The pale pink sands should make it easy to find the pearls, and you only have to collect sixteen before we can head to the temple."
The was a minor cringe in the guardian cat's attitude at the end of his sentence. She smiled softly, knowingly, at his actions as she tucked her hair behind her shoulders and leaned over to the guardian cat. Unlike the present Psyche's hair of balls, the chibi Psyche of the past had hair that was styled differently. Her long hair was in an intricate set of braids with flowers tucked between each section.
Closing the gap between the two of them, Psyche laid her hand over the top of the guardian cat's head, not petting him but simply resting it there as she looked down apologetically at him. She lingered briefly before she rose to her feet again, fixed her hair behind her shoulders and then turning to meet the path that lead down to the shoreline. She looked back at Thetis as he began to follow her before walking down the path toward the shoreline.
In the distance, two large pillars stood there. They were further in from the ocean, well behind the high tide, and they were old. Were they even pillars? They were more like large carved rocks that were protruding from the ground. They were special though, and in the surface of them were runes. Psyche looked at them knowingly as the two partners stopped there. She turned away from them to look at Thetis once again before closing her eyes and stepping between the two pillars.
When her grey eyes opened again, Psyche woke up on the ground of the cliff with a weird ringing in her head. As she had a chance to focused, she realized the ringing was not actually ringing but the sound of Thetis' fearful shrills. He had panicked when Psyche had passed out so suddenly, and when he was unable to wake her the situation in his mind only got worse. He was half way through typing a message on her phone to Iris when he stopped and looked at Psyche with wide, green eyes.
"PSYCHE!" He cried, running over to him.
Psyche, confused by seeing him in her dream of the past, simply stared at him for awhile. What did this all mean? Why was Iris' cat with her then? Was she just dreaming, or was it all relevant? It felt like it wasn't simply a dream, it felt like her Asteroid here was trying to help her along on her way by giving her what she needed to finish the quest in the only way it could. It sent her just the vision she needed, and if it was just a dream then when she got to the shoreline it would would be different than what she had just seen, right? It wasn't far, it wouldn't waste too much time just to investigate.
"Come," she said, a strange tone in her voice as her eyes focused on Thetis. It was still weird. If it was a vision, why wasn't ********* there informing her of her task? It didn't make any sense. It should be *********, shouldn't it be? She thought about it, continually looking back at Thetis as she picked up her belongings and made her way to the shore. It was there that she discovered that the two pillars were still there and along there surface remained the runes that had been there in the past.
She ran her fingers over the surface, feeling familiarity here but unable to understand what was written. She didn't know what came after this, but Psyche once again look one last look at Thetis and stepped between the two pillars. What happened next, what she hadn't seen in her vision, was magic. Simple as that. The quest idol she had carried all the way here began to glow softly as it resonated with the pillars, causing them to glow as well. After that, the sound of wind began to swirl around her. It built up and then quickly spread out in a path in front of her, creating a bridge over the surface of the ocean.
Dauntless and determined, Psyche walked over the wind without fear. Thetis though? That took a lot of coxing.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 9:03 pm
It had taken a lot longer to cross the wind bridge than it would have if it was only Psyche there. Thetis wasn't so trusting of this foreign magic as Psyche was, and the idea of falling into the middle of the ocean was just simply too terrifying. Sure, he'd crossed the ocean before but that was different! His feet had been on solid ground! He didn't feel like he was defying physics! He didn't feel like any moment the wind might disappear and drop him into the sea.
Too busy with his fears, he didn't even realize that the two of them had finally arrived on the shore until his little foot stepped on something quite round. He pondered this new sensation for a moment until he looked down and cried out desperately. It was a pearl! It was round! It was under his paw and trying to merge into him! Oh my Mau! Oh my Mau! The guardian cat began to freak out, jumping as high as he could to latch onto Psyche's back and then climb onto her shoulder.
Psyche had cringed, hissing out a sound of pain as she tried to realize what was happening. It didn't take long for Psyche to realize that Thetis had used her as a pin cushion. By this point, Thetis was trying to climb onto Psyche's head when he realized that the very thing he was trying to run away from was literally staring him in the face.
Oh. My. Mau.
Unfortunately for Thetis, he found the energy escaping his body as he simply fell unconscious. It was too much, and the overload shot the poor guardian cat's system. Fortunately for Thetis, Psyche wasn't letting him off the hook that easy. She caught him from falling, woke him up by throwing him and then assigned him the cruelest task imaginable for his crimes against her. He now had to hold the bag of pearls for her, beginning with the one she picked up from under where his paw was earlier.
It was as if time had come to a halt as he followed Psyche around as she dug through the pale pink sands with her gloves, whining the whole time as he dragged the small bag of pearls behind him. He didn't like it. He felt like he was going to get sick, but he'd do anything to get in Psyche's good graces. He just wanted her to find him useful, to love him like she loved *********. If that meant having to do this, then the least he could do was try.
The sixteenth pearl couldn't come soon enough, and when it did, Thetis ran as far away from the bag of rattling pearls as he could. He watched to make sure Psyche had picked it up and then he curled up in the backpack with the supplies in it. He felt safe here as it was the place he'd been hiding in when he'd first arrived here on Psyche, and also where he'd found safety from the asteroid's environmental tests.
A light laugh could be heard from Psyche as she tucked the pearls away and gathered everything up off the beach. It was a happy laugh, a victory over adversity. A triumph. They were almost done, or at least that's what past Thetis had told her. She just had to find this Temple of Jane, and then she'd been in the home stretch.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 9:04 pm
The only way in and out of Panm was the bridges of wind around the continent. They weren't hard to find, marked by two runic pillars on the shore surrounding the fields and peaks. The difficult task was finding the temple in the abandoned ruins of Jane. Without memories of a time where she'd been there, navigating through the ruins and finding it was no walk in the park. How was she suppose to determine which of these ruins was the temple?
She thought she would have a hard time finding it but that hadn't been the case. Through the ruins of the city, at the end of a beaten up stone road (a direct path from the shore) was a high stone wall with iron portcullis hanging half way down the entrance. In the middle of the stone wall was a building that, unlike most of the city, had withstood the tests of time quite effectively. It wasn't by any means in its prime but it was still holding together, giving Psyche a strange sense of familiarity. All around it was a large stone covered courtyard, the heel of her boots clicking against the road as she walked closer to it.
Was this it?
She looked to Thetis for answers but quickly turned away when it dawned on her that he probably didn't have any either. If she didn't remember then he certainly didn't, right? He might have though, after all, she never asked him. She simply walked ahead, making her way to the building in the middle of the courtyard of stone.
The door of the building took a lot of effort to push open but with a large creak, eventually she managed to make her way inside. Behind her, Thetis seemed hesitant. He watched as Psyche made her way through the building, and even when she made her way to a strange alter. He didn't like being left alone in the ruins of Jane any more than he liked the idea of her going into a foreign building without any considerations so after she'd gotten to the end, he slowly followed her in.
By the time he made it to her side again, Psyche had already placed the glowing stone on the pedestal and curiously placed all of the pearls into the slots that surrounded it. They both expected something to happen and when nothing did, Psyche let out a good, exasperated scream. Thetis on the other hand, simply stared at it as Psyche began to try and remove everything with fail.
It was stuck.
She couldn't get it out.
"ARGH," she yelled, kicking her feet into the ground. She had come so far, and for what? For everything she worked for to get stuck in this piece of crap? Well, that was it. She was done. This building had a roof, and that made it a good of place as any to get some sleep. She was tired, and exasperated, and done. She was so done.
She unrolled her sleeping bag, crawled in and ended her day.
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 9:04 pm
Mediating, or sleeping? The asteroid Psyche didn't seem to note much of a difference there. Upon waking up, Psyche found herself able to remove the stone and pearls from the pedestal again. She seemed confused by this, especially when she felt a strange pulsation from the rock now. As if glowing wasn't strange enough, now it seemed to pulse in her hands as if it was a life of its own.
She thought about it, and recalling the last thing past Thetis had said in her vision, began packing up her things again. She threw the pearls into her backpack, swung it it over her back and grabbed the magical rock into her arms. She took one last look around her and allowed her eyes to settle on Thetis. He was the only thing that was left to pack up and he had legs of his own.
"Go," she said to Thetis, demanding him to follow her as she stormed out of the temple.
Thetis didn't have much time to react, and no matter how fast he could run, he simply didn't run as fast as Psyche. He could barely keep her in his view, soon realizing she was heading down the path that they had walked up. She was heading to the shore, and when she got to the shore she was running across the bridge of wind. Thetis was always behind her, direly trying to keep up with his senshi.
She stopped, and he wished he could use that time to catch up with her but his body forced him to stop as well. By the time she began moving again, he had to force himself back onto his feet to follow her so he wouldn't be left behind.
Once he found himself back on the pale pink shores, he found Psyche staring up the mountainside. It gave him a chance to catch up, and when he did Psyche turned to him with a strange smile on her face. She quickly scooped him up, stuffing him into the bag as well. He felt a strange sensation overwhelm him as he realized he was sitting on the bag of pearls, but soon Psyche began moving and he found his claws digging into the backpack for dear life as she began to climb the mountain.
This was it.
She was going to do it.
It took two days to completely scale, but eventually she made it to the top.
She stumbled around on her feet when she got to the top, wondering what she was suppose to do now. She might not have known, but the asteroid knew. The mountain could feel the pulsing of the now crystalline rock glowing in her hands. It called out to the skies, called for the winds, and soon the air around Psyche began to swirl around her. It wasn't simply swirling around her, it was being sucked into the crystal until the air was quieter than it had been since she arrived on the asteroid.
She was satisfied, or at least satisfied to at least leave the asteroid and head back home. She had found the answer to the vision that haunted her, and then some. She'd even gotten a weird, glowing trophy. It was more than she had hoped for. She dug her phone out of the bag, and soon enough the two visitors found themselves back on Earth where they had originally left.
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