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 Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:35 pm
There were days when after a long day of work that instead of settling down with a hot bath, she would power up into Sailor Hypnos instead. She would wander around the streets as a corrupt senshi of the Negaverse, one of the lost senshi who had learned their way and found forgiveness in the Negaverse. She was an ally of the city, and she protected them from the terrorists who threatened the people here. Or at least that's what many citizens might assume.
Hypnos didn't know what she was doing. She had many fractured memories of being Hypnos. She knew what kind of person she was but there were so many holes in her old life that things didn't all connect together. She recognized people, and many drew in conflicting feelings that she couldn't escape from. Sitting at home in a hot bath might be nice but that didn't give her any answers from the questions that haunted her head. Things the Negaverse didn't have answers to, or worse, didn't want her to know.
A walk, however, allowed her mind and body freedom. The cool night air allowed her a chance to contemplate this life. It wasn't wrong, was it? She was still fighting for peace. She had always wanted peace. She was still the same person she was, wasn't she? How much of that sensh's words should she take to heart? How much was an ill gotten lie? Was any truth? How much worse were the senshi than senshi siding with the Negaverse? Had she left because they were really all the things that the Negaverse said they were?
Arms crossed defensively, she walked until she reached a part of the city she didn't recognize in this life.
"Alas," she whispered. "Where might I have gone to?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 2:56 pm
The perimeter alarms went off while Finn was waiting for water to boil, and he wheeled around to his laptop and checked the cameras. His heart did a funny little lurch - there was a corrupt senshi on the street corner two blocks away. Finn leaned in closer, trying to get a better visual on who it was - and he sighed. Even in camera's low resolution, he could recognize Eternal Sailor Hypnos. Finn turned around and took the water off the burner and turned off the stove. Hypnos had disappeared months ago, and for her to reappear now, corrupted... Dinner would wait. He needed to talk to her. After taking the necessary precautions (arming the security system, locking all the deadbolts), Finn headed in the opposite direction from Hypnos, planning to circle back and draw her away from the building. When he'd gone two blocks, he powered up - and then came the tricky part, closing the space between them before his aura brought every Negaverser within a mile radius down on him like a ton of bricks. "Hypnos," he called softly, leaping down from a rooftop to land a few meters distant from her. "When did - when did they get to you?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 8:45 pm
The power signature was the first give away. It was surprising but hearing them call her name was even more so. She turned immediately, her long hair moving in a delayed fashion behind her. Her hair was not unlike the past, simply a more mature set of braids showcasing her hairstyle. Her fuku, however, was much darker. Her previously cream bodice was black, and the lighter hues were now darker. A dark, night sky seemed to reflect back at Babylon as Hypnos' blue eyes looked at him with disbelief.
"No one... no one got to me," she defensively, her body stance reflecting her words back at him as her arms crossed around her.
"Why are you here, Babylon? You shouldn't be here." She said with a questioning look, her voice echoing with concern. He was powerful. Simply being here with her was a danger. She couldn't remember the connections she used to have with him as Finn and that complicated the emotions she felt toward him but she recognized him as Babylon. She recognized him as someone who was her ally.
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Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:52 pm
He wasn't sure he believed her claim. Maybe she'd forgotten the circumstances of her corruption. Maybe she was lying to herself. Or maybe - and it pained Babylon to consider this - she really had gone willingly, abandoned all hope and let a General-Queen slip her fingers inside her chest. God, he didn't want that mental image but there it was. "I was just passing through," he said softly, although her statement that he shouldn't be here raised a certain alarm. He lived here - if there was danger in the area, then he wanted to know. "You have a powerful aura." As did he, and auras like that were too strong to simply ignore. "Why shouldn't I be here?" he asked, glancing around, trying to sound honestly curious more than personally invested. "Are you just trying to get rid of me?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:49 pm
No one who knew Hypnos would ever believe she had corrupted willingly. After everything she'd seen as a chibi senshi, and everything she fought to protect, Chaos simply screamed against it. She often fought against the words and way of Order, especially as times grew more pressing and senshi became more desperate to survive. It was harder to convince anyone against their actions when family members were slaughtered left and right simply because they couldn't reach their real target but Hypnos had tried. She had tried to help ease people's hate on both sides. That part of her would never change, no matter which side of the line she stood on.
"How did you get in? Isn't a permit required now? Or do you still live in the city?" She asked with curiosity, pondering the answer to the question herself. Either answer was admirable to Hypnos, and a smile from the past came across her face as familiar blue eyes looked at Babylon.
Her arms shifed until they wrapped around her waist. It was true that she might have a powerful aura but she was in the city, and it was under the influence of the Negaverse. They were no longer a threat to her, having taken her from the opposing side. She didn't feel in danger here, and backup always felt a hop, skip or a jump away.
"They'll realize you're here sooner or later, and they'll come for you. They won't come to talk to you. They won't reminiscence the past. I doubt they'll even come to capture you," she said, pausing a moment as she looked at the markings on his face. So familiar, and yet the words she spoke next burned her tongue and singed her heart with pain as they slipped through her lips. "They can't corrupt you. They'll come to kill you."
"I'd prefer to see your back than your dead body on the ground."
There was a long pause, and she whispered, "You are still my friend, after all."
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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 10:55 am
Oh, how Babylon's heart ached for her. It was clear she'd forgotten Ainsley when her heart was pulled into the rift, and with that had gone so many memories - and context for many more. In some ways, she reminded him of Avalon when she'd been corrupted - so much the same, and yet so different. Darker. Colder. "You know I can't tell you that," he said, in response to what he was doing here. If the Negaverse knew there was a royal knight operating right under their noses, they wouldn't sleep until they found him and killed him. Likewise, if they thought there was a leak, then security would tighten everywhere and make getting in and out of the city all that much more difficult. "I just needed visual confirmation," he said, cringing at how clinical the statement sounded. "You vanished. No one knew what had happened to you, Hypnos..." And here she was, a goddess of fitful sleep. He had a report to write. "I'll go," he said, nodding to her. There was no progress to be made here, no convincing to be done. Hypnos seemed sure in her new position. He remembered how stressed she'd been fighting for the white moon - she was at ease now. And while he was sworn against Chaos, there was no point in fighting her tonight. She'd already lost enough. "You're still my friend, too," he said quietly, quirking a tiny smile to her. "And I hope you've found some peace."
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 12:45 pm
Hypnos couldn't say she wasn't interested in how or why Babylon, a knight of his position, was here but she also didn't dare think of the reasons. They could only lead her to darkness and to his death. She would pretend she didn't see him, and hope for his safety. She hadn't walked into the River of Lethe to watch her friends die, but there was a part of her that felt like there was something between them now.
He didn't look at her the same. Why?
"I will forget our encounter," she said, a pained expression across her face. She had forgotten so much already. What was another memory to the dust? Her hand seemed to reach out toward him before it drew back toward her chest, and her body disappeared from his sight as she teleported away.
Pain. Sorrow. Fear. Everything but regret seemed to linger in the cold space where her body previously stood.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:50 pm
Babylon stood statue still for a moment, watching the dust swirl in her wake. He would keep an eye out for her, and see what he could learn about her fall, and-- What hope was there for someone who had already lost so much to this war? Hypnos had grown up in conflict. Perhaps it was a mercy to allow her to remain on the winning team. At least until some method of victory could be devised. In the mean time, night was dark over Destiny City. He turned, heading home. At least he'd turned her away from his tiny bit of turf, and that had been the entire point. He could only wish that tonight's discovery had not been so depressing. Appeal And we're done here! Thank you! Let me know if you want to do any follow-up. smile
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