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 Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:02 pm
Honestly, Megrez was starting to get tired. The turnout had been more than expected. She felt settled at this point, sure of where she wanted to go and who she wanted to go with. But she thought she felt one more aura approaching, and she was sure she had enough juice in her to share her story with one more person. She would have to send that "all clear" text soon, or someone would end up coming after she had left and that wouldn't be good. She wasn't so scared anymore. She had found resolution, or was going to come close to finding it soon.
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:48 pm
"Megrez?" Cybele called when she caught sight of the other senshi. Then, she ran across the grass, fully prepared to hug Megrez, then stopping short when she remembered they'd only had one conversation that wasn't in that nightmare future. "Sorry it took me so long to get here," she said instead, flashing a quick, awkward, smile. It wasn't her fault that she'd been halfway across the city when she'd gotten the text, but she still felt bad about it. "How are you?" she asked, moderately concerned. Scared was bad, but it wasn't dead or pointing knives at her.
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:48 pm
That voice was familiar. The sound made Megrez stand bolt upright. "Cybele!" She wouldn't have minded a hug from the senshi, really; after what she had seen, the two had a lot to talk about. She reached out to take Cybele's hands in lieu of a hug. It went without saying that losing everyone had made her very touchy-feely. "It's fine. I'm better than when I first sent my text. I'm glad you showed up. I've got some things to tell you about. They're kind of weird... maybe you should sit down for them." She nodded towards the bench.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:54 pm
Cybele accepted Megrez's hand with quite a bit of gratitude, then led her towards the bench with gratitude. The little friendly gestures... they were nice. "That's good. I was worried something might have happened... so I'm glad you're all right." She took a moment to sit down gracefully and smooth out her skirt, not that it probabally mattered. "Anyway, you have some things to tell me about, that are 'kind of weird?'" There were plenty of things that could fall out of that category, but one in particular seemed at least reasonably likely. "Would they happen to involve... um... you're right, this is going to sound almost crazy, but would they happen to involve you trying to kill me?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 1:15 pm
"Well, some things did happen." The second Cybele revealed her suspicions of what Megrez had to talk to her about, she felt a stone drop in her stomach. "Y... yes," she said haltingly. "I take it you've had the dreams or visions, too? I guess you might already know what happened, then..." Her eye contact shifted away for a moment. "I mean, more has happened to me other than that, but that's a big one. The visions were really just the top of a list of nasty things." Once she caught Cybele up on all the happenings, she was going to smother her in apologies, even if they were nowhere near adequate for what had happened.
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:39 pm
Cybele shook her head. “Not visions, exactly. Memories would be a better word, I think. I suddenly remembered things, but they were things that haven’t happened yet. It’s strange, but obviously it seems like you understand.” She sort of weakly smiled again before registering the hesitation in Megrez’s voice and feeling horrible for bringing their future selves' fight up. “Megrez. It’s fine. Well, no, but, um…” her voice began to crack and she paused, biting her lip in an attempt to control her emotions one last time before giving up and half sobbing, half shouting, “It doesn’t matter! I won’t let it matter!” It did matter, though. How was she supposed to look at Megrez as an ally and possibly friend with that fight fresh in her memory? “I’m sorry,” she said, shakily. After a deep breath, she continued, “You were just staying strong like I told you to. I won't let it happen, though. I won't corrupt. I also need to tell you about about my relationship with the Dark Mirror Court, but first... what are the other things?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:17 pm
"That's right... I had that happen, too. It happened through a dream for me, though I definitely get the sense that they're memories." Megrez hung her head, feeling ashamed for her future self's actions. "Having seen that, I... I won't let it matter, either." The mention of the other things made her frown. It wasn't so much that she was getting cold feet about telling Cybele what had happened as much as it was a fear of aggravating wounds further. She went on anyway. "As for the other stuff... it started about a month ago. There's this senshi prince, Castor, and his brother, Pollux... they arranged a crime scene where they killed a bunch of lieutenants and set up a distress signal to draw people in. Lots of people came, and for every person who agreed with what they did, there were two others who started going on about how horrible it was. I kind of blew up under the pressure and started yelling at people, and they started yelling back, and some guy slapped me. Not long after that, I killed a captain, because... I thought Castor and Pollux were just trying to make a call to action. I didn't know why everyone was so freaked out about that idea. "A little later, I met up with Pollux, and we took out two more lieutenants. One each. He really is something in a fight. Things cooled down for a bit, and then two weeks ago, I saved a Page from this Corrupt senshi. His magic... I don't know what it was, but it made me think about killing those lieutenants and the captain, about how much I hated senshi who hadn't killed because they were so pure... it made me wonder if I should just corrupt, because I wasn't fit for Order. On top of that, when I fought with a lieutenant earlier this week, another senshi stopped me. That's how I got this bruise on my cheek. "The last thing that happened before I had my dream and came out here was this other dream. I was standing in front of this horde of senshi, and they said I was irredeemable. A voice in my head asked me if I hated them, and when I said I did, I somehow gained the power to tear them all apart... after I'd torn them all up, I left the room and turned into a monster." Megrez thought she was sort of over what happened, but repeating it again made the pain come back. Even if she had been reassured that she wouldn't become a monster, going over the old wounds still hurt. "Other people were here before you, and they've told me that I won't turn into a monster, and that breaking my henshin pen wouldn't solve anything... but it's still painful to think about it."
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 7:36 pm
“Don’t corrupt,” Cybele said after Megrez was finally done explaining everything. “Please. Trust me, it’s not worth it.” After that, she paused for a long moment, not sure what else to say. A quick glance showed that the other girl had turned from a hesitant killer to a battle hardened warrior, and one who was saying she was on the brink of attacking innocent White Moon Senshi. That hit hard. Cybele had just promised not to corrupt, even to the Dark Mirror, but what if that wasn’t enough? The memories of their battle were still fresh in her mind, and it made everything else strange, especially the thought of dead Negaverseres. She didn’t allow herself to think about that. Instead, she asked, voice carefully controlled, “Who came to talk to you? Your friends from before? What did they suggest?” She sighed and shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to attack Megrez’s friends. “Actually, it doesn’t really matter. I doubt I’m like them, though. I’ve still only killed one person, I still hate that I even did that, and I do think you need to be careful if you don’t want to turn into a monster. In that future… I saw you a way I… don’t want to see you again.” She shook her head and inhaled slowly, then continued, “Breaking you henshin pen is a bit extreme, but taking time to think about things might be a good idea.” It wasn't like she was an expert on not being a monster, though. She was the one who had corrupted in the future and killed someone out of pure rage in the past.
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 2:57 pm
Megrez simply nodded. "Megiddo and Penthesilea came. I think I mentioned them to you last time we met. Castor came too. I just told you about him. They generally said the same things... no corruption, no stepping down." There was a hesitation before she continued. Cybele probably wouldn't want to hear this next part, but she went ahead and said it anyway. "The idea that killing makes you closer to Chaos is nonsense. I've only ever heard of one spontaneous corruption and there were a ton of other factors around it. The people that shove the reality of this war aside... they're not grounded in reality. We're soldiers. We have to fight. And sometimes people will have to die." She exhaled heavily. That was some heavy stuff. It was curious, how Cybele was such a counterbalance to every other person Megrez had encountered tonight. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. "I've learned from the mistakes my future self made. You can't just attack people based on a Chaos affiliation. The Dark Mirror Court, they helped us. I should never have attacked them in the first place. And all that grief, all that emptiness... I never want to feel it again." Her doctrine contained some self-contradictions. Negaversers would undoubtedly get the boot no matter what. In reality, only the Dark Mirrors were spared from her potential ire... though perhaps a particularly useless lieutenant might make the cut.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 6:41 pm
Cybele frowned slightly. “If you’re going to split the White Moon into us and them… I don’t think I’m going to end up on your side, Megrez. I’m not a soldier. Yes, I will fight, and… kill, in order to protect people, or save lives, or keep the city from becoming that hell I remember, but not because I’m told to, because they’re my ‘enemy’ or because it’s ‘necessary.’ That’s how Chaos, how the Negaverse, thinks, and I won’t. I won’t murder anyone else, even if it makes you think I’m not grounded in reality.” She stopped, suddenly, and glanced at Megrez. This was the point in the conversation, she knew from experience, when they were most likely to get mad at each other. Of course, after a moment she kept talking. “You don’t have to be Chaos to be a monster. I know we talked some about the person I killed, but… he couldn’t even throw a proper punch, and he told me he was protecting the city and I hated the Negaverse enough that I killed him for it. For trying to do the right thing. I didn’t tell you that, did I?” Would Megrez even consider that monstrous? She hoped so… but she also hoped that the other girl wouldn’t be disgusted. It being out in the open made her feel better. This wasn’t about her, though. “I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing. It’s just… a warning, I suppose, but as long as you’re not attacking people just because they’re Chaos you should be fine. Don’t worry. You’re a better warrior than I am.” She smiled briefly, and then remembered something. “Oh, and you don’t have to like the Dark Mirror just because of what happened. They’re… dangerous and not to be trusted.” It was the first time she'd ever said, or even thought, really, something like that about the Dark Mirror. A lot of things had changed.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 5:43 pm
Megrez nodded as she listened. "That's a good point. It's why I'm fighting, too. I want to protect the city, and maybe, if I can, the world." She remembered trying to say that perhaps a little more rhyme and reason could have been used at Castor and Pollux's gathering. "I never said you had to kill. Only to fight and make things right. Some people can't kill, or can't kill anymore, and that's okay. You just can't get in the way of people who will kill, not just because of letting a Negaverse agent go, but because some people might turn on you then. I wouldn't dare do anything like that, but some people might." The description of the person Cybele killed made Megrez frown a little, not so much out of disapproval so much as because there seemed to be a tough judgment call implied. "In that case... it's hard to know if you did the right thing. On the one hand, you might have prevented the rise of a powerful general. On the other... it's tough... but I don't blame you for being angry." The mention of Megrez being a better warrior brought a small smile to her face, but her expression soon changed to puzzlement at Cybele's warning. "Not to be trusted? Did you find something out about them?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 8:23 pm
The thought of other White Moon senshi turning on her because she refused to be a killing machine was disturbing, and somewhat reminiscent of that dark future. Cybele's frown deepened, but she said nothing. Megrez had no control over that. When she asked about the Dark Mirror Court, Cybele shook h head. "I didn't really find anything out... More like finally accepted. I trusted them, and because of that, I almost died a few times, and in the future it did get me killed. Um... I did promise to join them, a long time ago. It was one of my first times hunting on my own. I don't think I'd even met anyone from the Negaverse yet, and I met one of them, Remarque, he's their prince, now, and he was persuasive, then, and he told me that the White Moon had killed a lot of people, civilians, I mean, and the Negaverse and Dark Mirror Court was just trying to help or something. He also really wanted me to join them, he said they would help me and teach me more than my court had. I wasn't sure if I should believe him, but I did promise to join the Dark Mirror if the White Moon didn't work out, or turned out to be evil. I forget the exact terms. Then, I met another Dark Mirror Senshi, who was very nice... they're all nice actually, just dangerously wrong, and he also said the Negaverse wasn't bad " "I mostly believed them, and wouldn't listen to any senshi who told me otherwise, until I stumbled into a Negaverse ambush, totally unprepared. It was... horrible, and..." she sighed and shook her head, "the short version is that I shouldn't have survived. After that I didn't see the Dark Mirror for awhile. Things must have changed, because the next time I saw them it was the whole court, fighting Order and the Negaverse. I got involved, and tried to protect their Princess, since the Dark Mirror Senshi I met were always talking about how strong their Princess was. Instead I almost died and she had to protect me, and failed, and I watched them break her wings and take her starseed. I thought she had died, and I realized that the Dark Mirror Court was lying about their Princess's strength, they were probabally lying about other things too. I still liked them, but I never thought about joining them again."
"...Well, until the future. I was desperate, I knew the city was lost and my court was helpless, but I kept fighting. Then, I had a close call with corruption. The White Moon Court apologized, but the Dark Mirror promised to protect me... So I remembered my promise and didn't look back, until the day I was executed with everyone else. That day, I admitted that their promise was a lie, like everything else."
Since all the frowning was getting unpleasant, Cybele smiled a bit, despite the fact that the story was dark. "That was my explaination, by the way."
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 1:24 pm
Cybele's yarn was a tangled one indeed. 'Nice, but dangerously wrong' was a curious line that caught Megrez's attention. It seemed that this Remarque supported the Negaverse, which would explain what made them both dangerous and wrong. "So they promised you power and defense and gave you none of either? Hmm." Megrez fidgeted a bit as she tried to process it all. "It sounds like they're good salesmen with no goods to actually sell you." She shook her head. "Everyone was executed? I... oh god. I was killed by a General-Queen before that happened, I guess, but I had no idea. I was hoping that the tide would be turned at least a little bit." It was devastating, hearing that the last stand had not just failed, but that everyone who had a role in it died. The Negaverse won in that future. "We... we can't let that happen again."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 8:06 pm
Afterwards, Cybele realized her feelings about the Dark Mirror Court were conflicting and strong, and there wasn't much logic to pull them together, and because of that, her story was basically a mess. Luckily, Megrez didn't seem too confused, or... angry, or something worse. However, she was also comparing the Court to shady salesmen, which made sense but also made Cybele feel surprisingly defensive. "Yes... and no? Well, technically, yes, they did make promises they couldn't keep, but no more than the White Moon does. Or... did... will do?" Cybele lookedpointedly at the other senshi for a moment as if she would somehow know the correct tense for the remembered future. "Anyway, I don't hate them, and I'm not asking you to hate them or treat them like the Negaverse. Please don't do that, actually. Like I said, they're mostly nice. Just... be careful, and maybe warn new senshi if you see any." "But... you didn't know about the executions? You're lucky." Cybele tried to remember how many people had been there, but all practical details were lost. Instead, she remembered the stare of her executioner, the people's cheers at the death of her friends, the feeling of her head being separated from her body. She shuddered. "Maybe some people got away, I'm not sure, but they tracked me down, and I was a Dark Mirror Senshi and in hiding, so..." she trailed off. Even if someone had escaped, she was sure it wouldn't be for long. Megrez was saying they couldn't let it happen again. Cybele agreed. "We won't," she promised, smiling. It was a stupid statement, something the two of them didn't have much control over, but it was also the right thing to say.
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Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:59 pm
"I guess it's hard to keep promises when everything is so 'grey' and uncertain," Megrez said, her tone a bit stiff at the implication that the White Moon couldn't keep its promises. "I don't know... it's kind of a hard call to make. After what I saw, I definitely wouldn't treat the Dark Mirror like the Negaverse." At the very least, she didn't want another tongue-lashing from Chariklo; at the most, she didn't want to nearly screw over a potential vital treaty if it every came to pass. "I didn't know about the executions because I was dead before they happened," she said with a short, sharp chuckle. "All we can do now is what is right... whatever we end up deciding that is." She stretched and looked up at the sky, pretending she knew much about the trick to telling the time from the sky. "Man... I'm tired. Today's been really crazy, with the memories and all the people coming by. Maybe we should go get some rest, huh?" stari_maga kfjfkdjkfljs I'M SORRY I thought I replied to this but I never did ><
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