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 Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:25 am
There had been a time when stepping into Mirrorspace had felt like coming home. Now, it felt more like a chore. Something tedious that couldn't be avoided. With a sigh, Chariklo emptied her wraiths of the energy she'd 'stolen' from willing volunteers into the Mirror. If she really thought about it, it felt like Mirrorspace was longer a safe retreat. If the Dark Mirror Court wasn't careful, it would be their crypt.
Soft sigh echoing, she bowed her head and said, almost as if to the empty air, "It's getting worse out there."
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:29 pm
It was a pure fluke that Remarque happened to be walking through a mirror in time to hear Chariklo's words, and it was just instinct to reply, "Isn't it always?"
He was coming from somewhere deeper in Mirrorspace and brushed himself off after his feet were on solid ground again. He seemed to be tired, but that was hardly new; there was always something that needed attention, or work, and Remarque's breaks were few and far between. Not that he didn't have priorities in his civilian life, but balance was the key, and sleep was at the bottom of this list of things to do.
While he recognized her voice, he looked up to confirm her identity before following with a proper greeting. "Chariklo," he said, nodding to acknowledge her. "It's been a while."
Not long, but a while, all the same.
"How have you and the girls been holding up?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 5:48 pm
"Remarque," Chariklo gave the blonde man a deep nod of respect. "Has been been a while? I'm not very good at keeping track of time lately."
Part of her wanted to cover the distance between them and hug the Dark Mirror Prince, reassure herself that he was real and not a trick of Mirrorspace and her own exhausted mind. But she held back, only reaching out a hand for him.
Last I heard, Amytis is doing well. She's living full time at the camp. It seemed safest given the twins. Cruithne is there too helping heal the injured. I haven't really seen anyone else since. Well, I see Leto sometimes when I come here. When she lets me."
There was a great deal of hurt under her words. She wanted and needed to know that her second family was safe. And she needed to talk to Remarque about... other developments.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 6:33 pm
When Chariklo held out a hand, he took it, either out of politeness or because it felt good to know that she wasn't an illusion.
Mirrorspace was a sneaky place, and for as much as he needed it, he just couldn't trust it. But Chariklo was real, and it was good to hear about the others. "But I am glad to hear that your family is safe."
The camp was, after all, as safe as anywhere these days. At least they were surrounded by allies. Remarque had considered taking shelter in some safe haven only once, be it for his entire family or to try and think if he could at least convince Raven and Chloe to stay, but it was a short lived idea. Living at a camp made them a target, though perhaps no more so than if they lived in Destiny City as they did now.
"I haven't seen much of Leto," he mused, though did not sound quite sorry about it. Leto had an approach to things that he didn't quite agree with, and rather than create conflict or question her, perhaps it was best ifs he spent her time in Mirrorspace. Better there than doing something to endanger the Dark Mirror Court—even if only unwittingly. If there were those that could get through to her, perhaps he would have been more welcoming, but right now, everything was like walking on eggshells. Still, he wondered about her. "…Has she been getting into trouble? Or taking care of herself, at least?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:31 pm
The hurt was quickly replaced by a sour expression.
"Depends on your definition of taking care of oneself, I suppose. I don't think she powers down at all anymore. And I swear there are times when she makes me feel like she thinks I have no right or reason to come here. It's ******** unnerving."
And as for getting into trouble...
"As for whether or not she's behaving, I'm finding new Dark Mirrors far too frequently for my liking. And I know that it's not you, Lesath or Damocles making them. So it has to be Leto doing it. Which is not making us terribly popular in the camp."
Glancing around carefully, she edged a little closer to the blonde prince and murmured in a soft voice that hopefully wouldn't echo or carry.
"I'm working on something with the leadership in the camp to keep us safe and hopefully get us and our families off planet is everything goes wrong. But they want some concessions from us. And at least one of them would like to talk to you directly with me there to translate."
She really wasn't sure what sort of reaction to expect. Remarque had been a Prince longer than she'd been a Princess and as far as she was concerned, he ranked her. And he might not appreciate her taking the initiatives that she had.
"Remarque," she continued in a low, fierce voice, "This might be our only chance to escape and have a measure of safety. I can promise that the terms aren't unreasonable. I wouldn't have agreed to further negotiations if they were."
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:41 pm
Remarque gave Chariklo a look, though exactly what it meant was unclear. She was not alone in her plans to work with Order, though none of his plans had yielded much result--yet. "Translate?" He scoffed. "I speak English, is translate just an excuse to have a chaperone? I play nice," he huffed.
He worked very hard to keep a good reputation, for both him and the Dark Mirror Court. Not that Leto was making that very easy. The idea of her awakening--or corrupting--left him feeling at odds with himself. On one hand, more Dark Mirrors. On the other hand, no one looking out for them--and who knew what others might be planning if they thought all Dark Mirrors were as overzealous as Leto?
Still, he seemed at least interested to know what Chariklo had been working on. At this point, he trusted her to be making good decisions--and he was relying on her to do everything she could to try and help them out of their predicament. Hopefully someone's plan would work out and the Negaverse would be a thing of the past.
Though he was interested, he still seemed a bit exasperated. "What terms are they pushing for?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 4:01 am
Grinning slightly, she gave her head a quick shake.
"It's not that. Granted, having someone around she's comfortable with might be part of why she asked, but not the whole reason."
Biting her lip slightly, Chariklo wondered how much she was allowed to reveal about Hvergelmir. Only the most salient points, she decided. If Remarque didn't know about what the Negaverse had done to the Knight, seeing her might be an unpleasant shock. And unpleasant shocks tended to bring reactions that might hurt her friend.
"The Negaverse cut out her tongue years ago, Remarque. She normally uses a magic whiteboard, but she thought that might take to long and possibly make you feel nervous having to wait while she wrote. So she asked me to come along to translate her signing for you. Takes less time and hopefully makes all of us smaller targets."
Doing another quick glance around, she rubbed her arms a little as if she were cold. Though it was less cold and more a creepy prickling. When had Mirrorspace become creepy to her? It was an unnerving state for a Dark Mirror to be in.
And Remarque was clearly becoming a little exasperated with her. Better to just explain and hope that it wouldn't lead to a falling out.
"Like I said," she replied soothingly, "it's nothing terrible or entirely unreasonable. They are offering to take us to Mercury. Other Knights might offer other planets, but for now it's Mercury, courtesy of one Babylon. In exchange, we bring any new senshi we find or even just senshi in need to the camp. And we stop all corruptions. Unless," she held up a finger to emphasize the exception, "it is literally the only way to keep a senshi alive."
She didn't bother to tell him that she was still fighting for those senshi who specifically asked to be thrown through the mirror. At the moment, it simply wasn't relevant.
"It's a logical request on their part. The fewer senshi on their side, the harder it is to move people off the planet. And truthfully, dude? It's nothing that I haven't already been doing. My own little crew are still going to do supply run for them and some ferry work."
Here she sighed a little and shrugged.
"I tried to get blanket rights to move to the camp for all of us, but that one didn't fly. So for now, it's very much a case by case basis because they don't want a Leto hiding in the ranks."
Glancing up at him expectantly, Chariklo's attitude was almost like that of a puppy waiting to find out if it was about to be petted or swatted with a rolled up newspaper. Remarque was smart, she kept reassuring herself. He'd see the logic within the terms even if he wouldn't exactly like it. And if he was agreeable, she could tell Hver and they could get to work on those negotiations.
Please don't let him be too mad.
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:07 am
Remarque was quiet for a long moment, though that did not particularly mean he was upset. His face remained unchanging as he thought. First, he thought about the knight, and what Chariklo described. Then, he thought about the Negaverse and how depraved they had gotten.
And then, he sighed and slid his hands into his pockets as he rolled his shoulders. "Mercury, huh? Not my first choice."
But it was better than nothing, if s**t hit the fan.
"And all they want is a promise not to corrupt anyone unless there's no other choice?"
Hell, that was easy enough. Of course, Remarque was one to bend the rules if he knew he could get away with it. He'd lie if he had to. But he had never forcibly corrupted someone--and he wasn't about to start now. "I suppose that isn't so hard." He nodded to her, still seeming decently lost in thought. "Good. Good job, yeah. Excellent, Chariklo," he said--and seemed very proud of her. Even when doubt set in, and questions, he still seemed grateful that she had made such alliances that she had opened those doors for them. "Though...how are they going to get everyone to Mercury? You'd need a hell of a lot of power to move our Court, even in small batches. I was told by a Knight, I don't know, a few months ago? That he was having a hard time getting back and forth. Said it was draining him more than it used to. Now, I don't know if that's him getting old or something they are all dealing with, but do they have a plan for how they wanna get everyone there?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 6:29 am
"Essentially," she answered. "I'd rather have willing recruits and if unwilling, at least grateful to still be alive and with memory intact anyway."
She watched anxiously as he thought about what she'd told him. Thankfully, Remarque was a thinker. He'd consider every angle before rushing in to anything. While annoying in a battle situation, at a time like this, that tendecy was welcomed.
And her obviously relieved smile as he praised her quickly gave way to a grimace when he brought up the problem of how exactly this would be done. Still, she'd made it a point to always be honest with her fellow royals and saw no reason to alter that stance now.
"I think it must be something they're all having an issue with. I'm not certain how it's going to be managed, to be completely truthful. Maybe if enough of them work together they can generate the power needed. I'll talk to Hvergelmir next time I see her and find out how they're planning on countering that difficulty."
She thought a moment more and wondered if there was a way to somehow join together to create the power needed. It might be something worth asking about and possibly experimenting with.
"Hell, for all I know, there's tech on Mercury that could help. I'll ask about that too."
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Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 10:43 am
For a while longer, Remarque seemed pensive. "Sounds like a good plan," he mused, stroking his chin as he thought. "Can never have too much information. Yeah--" he spoke again, no longer seeming so distracted. "Ask when you see her again. I'd like an update on the matter so if you learn anything else, please let me know as soon as possible."
Even if they weren't succeeding, he wanted to know everything. It was an old habit; he liked to know what was going on. Liked to try and plan ahead, have a backup plan.
The Dark Mirror had always been playing catch-up, though.
If ever they needed the chance to get ahead, it was now.
"Keep up the good work, though. I'm glad we've got you on our side. I might be pulling out my hair by now if there were any fewer of us." Or maybe he'd have gone off the deep end, like another princess he really needed to have a chat with.
If he hadn't had Raven...
Who knew where he'd be, or what would have become of him?
...But that didn't really matter. Not now, anyway. Now, what mattered was following any leads on getting off the planet, pushing back the Negaverse, or anything otherwise that would have secured the Dark Mirror Court's survival.
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