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 Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 8:21 pm
Oakdale Park, Thursday, 12am. As promised, Aludra was waiting. She sat primly on a seat in the park, in full view, her fingers laced together in her lap. It might have been risky to be so boldly out in the open but she figured it was no worse than her usual patrol. There was always risk involved and at least this time it was calculated. She wanted Astrophyllite to trust her, so she was willingly putting herself in a dangerous position. I know you’d come and I’m not afraid, her position read. So Aludra waited, running everything she’d promised to learn over and over in her mind. She so was eager, almost to the point of making her body tremble, to be able to fulfil her promise. She wanted to show Atrophyllite the path and lead her down it, from the dark forest to the sunny meadow, from sadness to joy. Whatever she had to do to accomplish that goal, she would do it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:52 pm
Colchis and Kairatos had had enviable advice, true, but Astrophyllite was no closer to actual purification than she'd been before meeting with them, and she remained terribly uncertain. Sitting there in that garage talking to a pair of very enthusiastic Mars knights had been easy. Going home and sleeping and then getting up the next day and being summoned for Negaverse business and having to go back to gathering energy... that was the hard part, and besides, she was incredibly shaken up over pretty much everything that had happened in the Rift. Youma liked her. She'd been moments away from killing Atë. Maybe she was just too bad to be good. With that considered, it was nice to know that some people still believed in her. Aludra was waiting for her, just like she'd said she would be, her aura bright and sweet, brick dust and buttercream and cherry filling. "Hi!" called Astrophyllite, hopping eagerly towards the bench. "Hi," she repeated. "I learned a lot of things - did you - did you find things out as well?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 5:26 pm
As soon as she felt Astrophyllite’s presence, Aludra was up off the seat and waiting with a welcoming grin. It was hard not to go running right to her and instantly blurt out everything she’d discovered but she restrained the urge. "Yes," she said, holding out a hand towards her friend, for a friend was exactly what she considered the agent, "I’ve learned a lot too. I can’t wait to tell you everything."
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:58 am
Astrophyllite grabbed hold of Aludra's hand and followed her, confident that she would not lead her astray. She knew that Aludra's magic was just an illusion, but nevertheless held the belief that the senshi's sphere of power was fortuitous; Aludra would not lead her astray. "You tell me what you've found out, first," she suggested, fretting that if she shared her own discoveries too quickly, she'd make Aludra feel as though she was helping Astrophyllite for nothing. There were so many people who all wanted to help her become good, and she didn't want to risk alienating any of them. If Trixilite followed her to Destiny City, if anyone on the Negaverse wanted to try to take her back, then she would need all of the allies she could get. Astrophyllite smiled. "I'm all ears."
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:31 pm
Aludra sat, leading Astrophyllite down beside her. “I finally tracked down a cat who knows all about it. She told me that only a Royal Senshi can perform a Purification,” she began, trying not to be too eager and have the words fall over each other in a rush. It felt as though her promise had been a heavy weight in her gut that was only now being lifted as she fulfilled it. “These special Senshi summon a crystal that cleanses the darkness. It takes a lot of energy and apparently these Royals are quite rare, but she did give me the name of one. Sailor Iris, the Senshi of Rainbows.” It would have been nice to be a Royal, as fanciful a dream as that might be, just so she could do it herself. “We just need to find one and we can set you free.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:23 pm
Astrophyllite nodded, and she smiled because she wanted Aludra to know how much she appreciated all of this - it was just that she'd already learned much of the same things from other people. She hadn't been trying to make Aludra's search pointless, of course! She'd asked Aludra first! It was just that... she felt all misty behind her eyes. So many people cared about her, she thought. So many people want to help me."I - I talked to other people," she said quietly, afraid that she might make Aludra feel like her efforts had been a waste of time. "After I talked to you. Hvergelmir and Colchis and Kairatos." Oh, that sounded terrible, she thought. It sounded like she'd doubted what the little senshi could do do for her and gone looking for a second opinion. "They said I needed to find a princess, too," she said. Camlann had even offered to contact one for her... but she hadn't wanted his help. If she spent too long with Aludra, she worried, she might put the little senshi in danger. "I'll look," she said. "You shouldn't put yourself at risk for me. You've already done so much." Would it be safer for Aludra to run around talking to royal senshi? Well, probably, but in Astrophyllite's world, looking for any kind of information, from anyone, even on your own side was dangerous. "Thank you, really," she added nervously. "I appreciate everything you've done."
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:39 pm
"I see," Aludra said quietly as she digested what she’d been told. But rather than be disappointed or annoyed that Astrophyllite had already found the same information, she was relieved. "I’m so glad." Her smile was bright and hopeful and she squeezed Astrophyllite’s hand reassuringly. She’d never heard of any of the people that had been mentioned but trusted them all the same. To know there were others ready to help save Astrophyllite was wonderful. It eased the burden of carrying another person’s fate in your hands. "I've hardly done anything really and don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself. Please let me keep helping you. I’ll never sleep properly again if we leave it like this." They’d come so far and Aludra needed to see it through to the end.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:28 am
Astrophyllite hated to hear her friend diminish her own accomplishments like that. She'd gone out and found out how purification worked, even gotten the name of a princess, and that was about as much as Astrophyllite had managed to do, and that by getting other people to help her. She would have never come this far on her own, and that was the gospel truth. "Okay," she said, smiling. "I'll let you know when I have a plan and know how I'm gonna do it." As it turned out, there was a lot of advance planning you needed to do if you were going to purify. You needed to know where you were going to go and who you were going to live with and who you were going to be and you needed to have a contingency in place in case you forgot all the reasons you even wanted to purify and became completely irrational afterwards and... it was a lot of hard work. More hard work that Astrophyllite felt like she was strictly prepared for. Luckily, she had friends. She leaned forward, hoping she was not being too touchy-feely, and pulled Aludra into a hug. "Thank you for everything you've done so far."
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:39 am
Aludra hadn’t turned down at friendly hug in her life and wasn’t about to start now. She shifted completely into the embrace, wrapping her arms around the other girl and giving a loving squeeze. "I will do everything and give everything that I have to help you." Astrophyllite was a dream and a purpose; she was a promise that all those who had been swayed by darkness could one day find their way home. They couldn’t fail now. "I know you can do it. We’re all going to be there for you." She pulled back slightly, face full of sunny smiles. "If you ever need me, I’ll come running." Though that was somewhat difficult considering lack of means for communication, a fact she’d been considering for the last week. "Um, so," she took a slip of paper from where it had been tucked into her bow, "I started a private chat room. I’ve written the link down, so you can always drop me a message there, okay?" It was easier than waiting around every Thursday or hoping they’d run into each other and held little danger if it fell into the wrong hands.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:08 am
Astrophyllite took the paper from Aludra and looked it over eagerly. This was such a great gift - a way to contact her friend any time she needed to! She tucked the address into her pocket for safe keeping. "That's so smart of you," she said. "Thank you. I'll - I'll let you know when I'm ready to do it. When I have my plan all made and stuff." Hopefully, that would be soon - she didn't know how much longer she could stand in her current position. Everyone was growing suspicious of her, and she hated having to collect energy just to get by. It was terrible, and ever day she had to do it was another step into darkness. Standing up, Astrophyllite offered Aludra one last smile. "I should get going," she said. "People are getting suspicious of me." She'd tried to help Hvergelmir, after all, and that had backfired spectacularly - but at least her friend was alive. "Thank you so much. You're wonderful." She waved, and then she hurried away - she had a quota that she still needed to fill, and she wanted to be well away from Aludra before she started trying to fill it.
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