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 Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:46 pm
It had taken a long time thinking, as realizing the gravity of the things in her possession after rebirth took some time. She recognized them as being in the shape of starseeds, but they couldn't be.
The tiny crystal shaped not-starseeds that looked to be delicately fashioned from tiny mirrors had been the object of some curiosity, but after speaking with Asclepius, some memory of them came back. They were starseeds, the lightless, lifeless products of a Negaverser ripping the life out of a Dark Mirror Senshi.
Beyond that, she had spent most of her time quietly staring at them on the floor. They didn't belong in subspace, or a shoebox in a safe. It was hard to think of them as faceless when memories of Chariklo's story about her friend came, eventually, through the muddled years and flood of information.
After some time, Zirconia remembered each mirrorseed as individually as she had before. She remembered which officer gave it to her and what they had traded her for. The details of its owner's death, had they been shared. How old they were and how long she had them.
In Tartaros with the senshi of medicine, the mirror surface had done more than ripple. It pulled. It screamed still, and it was that sound of pain that had made her cease prodding at them with intention to goad it into showing life.
That didn't mean she didn't do anything. There was a lighter touch, she learned, a reaction that didn't cry out but hummed with quiet contentment. There was more to do than simply hurt, and in resonating with the small wavelengths and nuances that were given off by the strange material, there was more to be done.
There was a job to do with these. A penance to give.
She left that night with a purpose, and held a small cherry wood box with the starseeds placed with neat care on the soft velvet lining in her hands. Skirts trailing behind her, she sought out a specific space. She was so disconnected from old friends, would Hvergelmir still linger here? After all that's happened?
Goosebumps crept on her skin as she stood there in the cold, anxiety creeping up in the silence and whispering this was a terrible idea. Kairatos had seen her die two weeks before the New Years Ball yet no one seemed to know she was gone. The text message screaming that this had better not be a joke full of gibberish and expletives still lingered at the forefront of her mind. Could she call him? Could she call Tara? Could she call anyone?
Was it really so smart to go out looking like this? She felt a lump rising in her chest telling her she looked like a fool and in a brief moment, her bare feet turned to leave, halted only by a strange aura on the horizon that made her grip the little wooden box in her hands that much harder.
Chaos was near.
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Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:20 am
Cradling the dead starseed in her cupped hands, Chariklo was debating what to do. Ever since that Zirconia had given it to her, she'd kept it close, cherished and protected it. But for all her care, she hadn't been able to figure out how to make it go to the Cauldron thing that the lilac haired cat-lady had mentioned. Which meant... what? That Dark Mirrors were forever barred? Shaking her head irritably, she dismissed that notion. No, they had souls. There was just something blocking the path.
Yes, it was easier to believe that than to believe that Bianca was forever blocked from the chance at reincarnation far down the line. Terrible thought. No, she'd have to puzzle out this Cauldron thing and hope that she didn't screw it up.
"We'll figure it out, babygirl," she murmured softly to the starseed in her hands. "I won't let you have died for no chance of redemption."
She would have said more, but the flicker of an aura made her pause, head jerking up like a wary animal. It wasn't Chaos, but it wasn't familiar either. And it didn't feel, quite, like the Order auras she was used to. So... something new? Curious, she tucked the starseed carefully away for the moment and began to follow the energy signature. Anything new was worth learning about after all.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 12:54 pm
Her first night back on the job, and already things were going weird. Hvergelmir frowned, trying to settle her nerves. She could feel two distinct auras in the area. The first one, at a distance, had smacked distinctly of Zirconia in her human form. Closer, however, it had become evident that this was not the parallel Mauvian's aura: whatever it was, it felt similar, but huge, stifling. It had so thoroughly swarmed Hvergelmir's senses that it had been some time before she'd noticed the slightly subtler aura underneath it. It was a Chaotic aura -- the slippery, oily kind that bespoke the Dark Mirror Court rather than the bristling, itchy heaviness of the Negaverse. Whoever it was, they were highly ranked. So am I, she thought. There's nothing to be afraid of.Still, she felt nervous as she approached. Phantom tingles pricked at the soles of her feet. Moving toward the larger aura (any friend of Zirconia's was a friend of hers, after all!), Hvergelmir called out, "Hello? Are you -- do you know a Mauvian named Zirconia?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:27 pm
Zirconia seemed frozen in her tracks right up until Hvergelmir made herself known. She didn't seem to relax any, although she opened her mouth to say something and aborted the action, quietly closing it again.
It was kind of a difficult question to respond to.
"No, it's... it's me," She mumbled under her breath, glancing down to the wooden box in her hands again. "I was going to ask for... some help with something."
She tried to relax her shoulders, but she still stood stiff. Coming back from the dead was awkward, but it seemed more so since it had become apparent in the three weeks between her death and the New Years ball that life carried on just fine without her, and none of her friends seemed to take note of her absence. The explanation that her phone wasn't just dead for several weeks and that she had died and came back different was a hard story to get across with any kind of seriousness.
"I have some damaged starseeds that need a little bit of guidance getting to where they need to be, if you could take them."
The Chaos aura of the approaching DMC eternal kept her tongue tied and vague until someone else vaguely familiar emerged. It could only be universal contrivance that it was the holder of her one, stray mirrorseed. Or serendipity, whatever.
"I believe Chariklo has one as well," She said, with a small gesture of her head in the senshi of seagulls' direction.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 4:00 am
Frozen just at the edge of the light, Chariklo could only blink as tears began to brim in her eyes. The appearance of an Order aura followed by Hver's soft call was something unexpected, but entirely welcome. Sure, she'd had Titan's and Ida's word that the Cosmos Knight had made it out of that funhouse alive, but sometimes, one had to see to truly believe.
But if Hver's appearance was a happy surprise, learning that the strange aura was Zirconia was a distinct shock. What had she done to alter her aura so much?
Now with curiosity gnawing away at her, she hurried ahead until she could see both women and slowed as Zirconia announced her. Pausing again, she wondered if she looked as gobsmacked as she felt. Zirconia was talking about starseeds and here was Hver who knew about such things, according to Babylon.
"Are you all right?" she asked as she rushed towards Hver, needing to hug the Knight and reassure herself that this wasn't some dream. "Are you a mind reader to know I've been out hunting answers and a way to send her back?"
Bianca's starseed had ceased to be an it. It was her dear friend and as such, was frequently referred to as if it was a person. A tiny, reflective person.
"And what in hell did you do to yourself? Where's your ears?" she turned to address Zirconia directly. This new Zirconia was strange, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It wasn't just the massively changed aura, but something in the woman's face, her expression. "Are... are you okay?"
Looking back and forth between the two woman, she fumbled for her empty shard pouch and withdrew Bianca's starseed. Extending her hand, with the tiny gem in the palm, she took a deep breath to try and settle her nerves.
"Can you fix her and take her to the Cauldron, Hver? Babylon said you'd helped him with something similar. I'll do anything you ask if only you will. For that matter, I'll do anything this Cosmos of yours may ask if it means Bianca can have a second chance."
Eyes still flitting from one to the other, Chariklo was practically radiating a desperate hopefullness. There was simply no point in dancing diplomatic circles. Not when she was so close.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 10:27 am
Had Hvergelmir known that Zirconia had, apparently, been dead for a while, seeing her alive would no doubt have been the highlight of the evening. Absent any information on that score, though, the whole thing was just confusing: Zirconia had been a Mauvian, and was now . . . not quite a Mauvian. For unknown reasons. Hvergelmir shook her head and regarded the -- errr -- regarded Zirconia curiously. Different, but -- still Zirconia. And she seemed just a little bit shyer than she had been before. When they'd first met, Zirconia had been sort of forward, invasive. Now, for all her power, she came across as . . . unsure. Hvergelmir wondered, worried. "In that case," she said, scrutiny widening into a smile across her face, "I'm glad to see -- " The second arrival interrupted her cheery greeting: she had just enough time to process the very familiar, very treasured face before Chariklo enfolded Hvergelmir in a hug. She welcomed it -- Hvergelmir had a policy of generally always welcoming hugs -- and reached up with both arms to wrap them around the taller girl's midsection, returning her embrace wholeheartedly. "I'm fine," she trilled, giving Chariklo a good squeeze. "Nothing a few days in the hospital couldn't put to rights. Now, the both of you, what's all this starseed business?" Hvergelmir stepped back to see what Chariklo withdrew from her little pouch. Something very shiny was glittering in her hand, light from the streetlamp bouncing off of it. It was a carefully formed little polyhedron, long triangles all connected in a hexagonal bipyramid, and it looked -- well, it looked like a starseed. Almost. With the greatest of care, she folded it between her two palms and brought it up for a closer look. Rather than the lively delicate little float of Menachem's starseed, hovering over Cosmos's fingertips, or of Kerberos's little corrupted gem when he'd pulled it from his own chest, the silvery object in her hand didn't come to a pleasant little float in her hands when she held it. There could've been any number of reasons for that, she supposed, it was just -- it wasn't a good sign. "Chari," she said as gently as she could manage. "I want to help -- but -- " She paused, biting her lip. "My well is only close to the Cauldron." She looked down at the hard little object in her hand. "It . . . has to be able to make the last leg of the journey on its own from there, do you understand? I'm not sure . . . " She blinked, turning it slowly this way and that on her palm as though she could give it a second chance. "It . . . doesn't look right." I'm not sure this is really a starseed at all, she withheld saying. If it was a friend of Chariklo's, that was too blunt to say. No one wanted to be told that what they thought was a loved one's soul might be a cheap trinket someone else had given them as a trick. She turned her gaze to Zirconia. "Are yours the same? The ones you brought?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:42 pm
Zirconia's mouth seemed pressed in a taught line as she regarded the knight and the dark mirror eternal senshi, and then glanced down to her box. When Chariklo asked if she was alright, her first instinct was to begin shaking her head no, but she froze just as she hinted at the motion.
She wasn't here to cry over herself.
"Yes, that's why I wanted to talk to you about them," She told Hvergelmir. She could almost recognize the thoughts she must be thinking at the mirrorplated thing. She had said as much when she first gave it to Chariklo and likely delivered with more venom meant. That's it's probably not real, even if it came out of a body. False souls. Batteries for Ares' dead dolls.
"May I?" She asked before taking Bianca's starseed, but she glanced to Chariklo to search for an objection before she took it in her fingers. She stepped back to the table to gingerly set down her box, and then sit on the tale surface next to it, shifting the starseed from one hand to the other.
"Things came to an unfortunate head, searching for the Pyrite shards," She said, mostly seeming to acknowledge Hvergelmir with her body language if only because she had told her about her quest to collect them earlier. "My way home was closed but since perishing in Tartaros, the situation has changed. I remember things, and... some other things came to light later."
She touched her fingers to the surface and it became to ripple and hum, like she'd demonstrated so many times before. She began to pull her fingertips away, and it bowed and pulled with them, letting out an agonized scream.
She didn't hesitate, and after what seemed like the longest three seconds of her life, her theory she had been building since her Tartaros session with Asclepius was proven true. The quicksilver like substance seemed to stretch and bend and eventually slide away from the starseed structure, revealing a delicate and damaged little thing, but one that after a few short moments regained its glow and hovered over her palm.
"I think I owe you an apology, Chariklo, it was alive all along. It was just hidden. I shouldn't have told you she never had a soul."
She held it out to Hvergelmir to take back.
"It needs some help, but I think you can get it close enough to make it home. I have more that will need it too."
Her other hand held the glob of silver mirror, a strange and struggling reflective mass of substance that seemed to be freely moving on its own and making small noises now that it had been pulled away from its starseed form.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 3:30 pm
Heart sinking in despair at Hver's words, Chariklo bit her lip hard enough to draw blood in an effort to not start crying then and there. She'd promised Bianca that she'd find a way to get her to the Cauldron. And now...
Only her confusion at Zirconai's words kept her emotions in check. Pyrite shards? Tartaros? And she sure didn't looked perished. What was going on? Rather than speak, she simply let the lilac haired woman take Bianca's starseed and watched carefully as the other woman seemed to study the tiny crystal. Her eyes were fixed on the rippling surface as Zirconia managed to somehow interact with the starseed.
Eyebrows raising quizzically, she glanced at Hver to see if she understood any of this, opened her mouth to say something. Only to let out a startled curse as the starseed screamed. For a moment, she looked as if she might charge Zirconia to stop her from doing whatever she was doing that seemed to be hurting Bianca so...
Except, the reflective coating slid away and the true starseed underneath began to glow and hover. She barely registered Zirconia's apology, eyes wide in awe as she reached out gently to brush a fingertip against the starseed.
"This is what we carry inside?" she murmured softly, voice thick with emotion. "It's beautiful."
Glancing up at the two other women, she hesitated for a moment, almost afraid to ask. Afraid of the idea that was blossoming.
"She'll be able to be reborn now? She'll get another chance?"
The reflective blob dancing in Zirconia's other hand held equal fascination for the tall Dark Mirror.
"That stuff's in me too?" she asked with a hint of utter distaste. The little seedling of an idea was sprouting rapidly in her mind. If Zirconia could do this for a dead starseed, could she do it for one still living? Could she take it from Chariklo's own starseed and make her, well, normal? Suddenly, she was aware of exactly how disaffected she was with Chaos and her place there. If there was a chance for her to have the same second chance as Bianca...
"Can you do that for me? Take that stuff out?" she asked quickly, almost breathlessly. She was very much afraid the answer would be no, but it was something she had to know.
She glanced over at Hver again, wondering how the Knight would react. Would she understand? Would Zirconia herself understand? Granted, she'd said she had other starseeds... just how many Dark Mirrors had died and been left for lost until now? It was a question that she didn't want to consider too closely.Carneli I am so sorry for taking so long. ;; Life decided to kick me in the metaphorical balls.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 1:54 pm
It was a lot to take in all at once -- and if it seemed that way to Hvergelmir, who had no direct horse in this little race, it must have seemed doubly and triply so to Chariklo, for whom all that now remained of a friend was the starseed in Zirconia's hand. Zirconia's explanation wasn't just vague, she noticed, it was deliberately vague. It was hard for Hvergelmir to miss how very wide the gaps were in her summary -- since perishing in Tartaros, for God's sake, was alarmingly brief -- and because of that, she decided not to question the brevity of the explanation they were being given. It didn't just seem that Zirconia didn't want to take the time, it seemed she was deliberately playing her cards close to the vest. Hvergelmir understood: ally or not, friendly or not, Chariklo was still Chaos by nature of the power she served. There was always a chance that the forces that Chaos's agents served could force them to reveal secrets whether they willed it or not. It wasn't worth the risk. What was of more interest was what Zirconia said -- and then did. In a few long, tense minutes of odd magic, the once-Mauvian had transformed a dead, unresponsive silver starseed into a living, vibrant thing, glowing with the light of all its once-repressed potential. It floated in her hand now, just as it was meant to -- and stayed floating even at the delicate, reverent touch of Chariklo's hand. "That's what we have inside," she agreed softly, having seen enough examples in life and in memory by now to know the way they were meant to look. "A true starseed. The little fragment of hope from which we all grow again and again. That's it, right there." She reached out to take Chariklo's free hand, giving it a warm squeeze. It felt special to be here with her, listening to her open up her heart to the option of freeing itself from Chaos's shackles, even just a little bit. Hvergelmir felt her own heart sting with overwhelming joy and bursting hope. It's how you're meant to be, Chari, she thought. Free. Always free. Chaos is a cage you never deserved.
You are so much more than you know. You became a princess even with Chaos's muck weighing you down -- think how high you can rise on your own, seagull."We can take these ones on to the Cauldron now, if you like," she agreed -- a trip to her Wonder would be easy enough, and might give them both some peace to witness for themselves. To Zirconia, she underscored Chariklo's question: "What you did -- that's incredible. Do you think . . . can it be done on a living person's starseed too? Would it work?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:42 pm
Zirconia held the starseed out to Chariklo again at her nervous touch. "You protected her, you should take her."
The reflective substance in her other hand made a pitiful squeaking sound before she send a wave of ripples through it. "Hush, that isn't for you anymore."
In a quick burst of bright flames she summoned her staff, and the winged creature on top descended down to anxiously nudge the squirming and twisting mass. She released it, and it was consumed.
"I've always known Chaos to be a sickness, I just wasn't aware it came in a tangible form that could be altered, I suppose. I was wrong to write them off as dead and forlorn. Anyone can be saved. I used to know that. But sometimes, when centuries pass, you can forget the... the important things..."
She held up the box.
"I have been selling secrets and favors, and buying them back from the negaverse. They are all ready to go home," She said, glancing down at the top of the wood grain and pondering how costly some of them have been, for senshi that used to make her so bitter just to look at.
"They didn't know any better. No one deserves imprisonment like that..."
The bitterness had been scoured away with rebirth, and all that was left seemed to be raw grief that didn't waver when she looked at Chariklo, and then her eyes flicked down to the space on her chest she knew the starseed to rest under.
"I found it, in the park, when we met. You let me put my hand on your chest, and I could locate the parasite but..." She gnawed on her lower lip. "I could try again, but I've never pulled on one that's... still inside."
It had, after all, been a purely reckless accident when she pushed the mirrocoating to the breaking point with Asclepius. She had been showing off when it suddenly pulled away hard enough to stretch its shape. The thought of having an accident with a starseed that was still keeping someone alive was nerve wracking at best and complete, nauseating terror at worst.
She offered the box to Hvergelmir. "I-I was thinking you could take them. You don't need to take me along..."
She didn't think she deserved, really, to be the final send off to a handful of strangers who had died for a tension between factions she had helped grow with intention of starting a war. Curing them for rebirth was a small penance that didn't seem to be nearly enough. She had latched on to the concept, through small hints in language and criticism during her quest from their mutual friends, that Hvergelmir was seen as something pure and well intentioned where Zirconia felt to be perceived as cold and manipulative with destructive machinations. It didn't feel right to touch them, as if she would invite some further corruption upon the delicate and fading souls.
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 4:19 am
The gentle pressure of Hver's hand made Chariklo smile a little and return the squeeze. Though she had to remind herself to rein in her emotions to avoid crushing her friend's hand in her own.
"I would like to see that, if I could," she said a little wistfully. Being able to see all those poor, lost souls finally making it home... Poor babies.
She was interuppted from her thoughts by Zirconia handing bianca's starseed over to her. Cupping it gently in her hands, she couldn't help but stare at it raptly. It still seemed so odd that it had transformed so much in just a few seconds. Not as odd as the woman speaking to the moving, squeaking glob, but still pretty odd. The sudden, fiery appearance of a staff and weird, winged thing that ate the glob made her squeak a little in alarm and stumble backwards. She had a feeling that she was never going to get used to this new Zirconia and the tricks she could do. But in spite of her actions and the way she'd... acquired the starseeds she was surrendering, Chariklo was more than willing to give Zirconia a chance to try the trick that freed them on her.
Lowering her hands a little to give better access to her chest, looked almost serene in spite of the jumble of confusion within.
"Please try?" she murmured softly. "Please. It would be worth some pain and unpleasantness to be rid of whatever that crap was your little bat buddy ate." Carneli Can has temporary wonky aura nao? @ u@
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:26 am
Hvergelmir took the box between her hands with the utmost care. It felt familiar, appropriate: she knew from recovered memories that her past self had done this sort of thing, once upon a time. She had held fragile starseeds afloat between her hands, and shepherded them back to her well, the final waypoint -- then watched as they made the final journey as they ought to be able to do: by their own strength. She'd viewed it, then, as symbolically important -- that we all took the next step with help and support . . . but also by our own force of will. The last piece of the journey was a declaration: I want to live. I deserve to live. I am a star in and of myself -- and I will rise again.These starseeds had that chance, now -- to finish the great journey they'd started. They would be seen off properly. She held her hand out for the last starseed, the one Chariklo was still holding. "I'll hang onto it for you," she promised. "Just for a moment -- just while Zee tries." Hvergelmir offered a bracing smile -- but more at Zirconia than at Chariklo. "Everything will be fine," she assured the former (?) Mauvian. She seemed nervous -- understandably so, if she was trying something she'd never done before. Hvergelmir reasoned that it was worth trying, though -- so the best any of them could do was to try and be brave. "You'll be welcome at my Wonder, if you want to come with us. It's quite beautiful there." Another smile, and then, again: "It's going to be fine."
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