It was easy to avoid people like Ganymede and Valhalla when you refused to power up. It was easy to avoid certain responsibilities and energy quotas and magic. It was easy to avoid having to look at yourself and seeing how awful you are in your core. It was easy to avoid reflecting upon exactly what it is that you want…

If you never power up, you never have to think about those things. You can pretend none of it exists and go about your business as a civilian. Ignorance was bliss, as they say.

Unfortunately, Dani sat on the floor of her bedroom in her apartment- Alone. Because ever since Zinkenite brought her into the Negaverse, that is exactly what Dani was. She had no family, even if she and Zac claimed to be cousins. She had no friends, because even people like Azurite didn’t know her name or where she lived or what her favorite color was (it was blue). There was no opportunity to avoid thinking about those things because what else was there to do when you were alone anyway? She stared down at her hands, her blonde curls falling over her face. She sighed and tightened them into fists.
Was she alone in the Negaverse because she didn't make the effort? Or was she alone because that was the nature of such an organization? Would it be any different if she had remained a White Moon Senshi? Would it be any different if she somehow went back? Admittedly, she had no answer to those questions. All she knew was that she very desperately didn’t want to be alone anymore- she needed someone to cry to after doing terrible things. She needed someone to tell her that she was doing the right thing, in the right place. That she was good at what she did in the Negaverse- that they were proud of her. The Negaverse was a well-oiled machine but want she needed more than anything was someone above her that would be her mentor. Whether that was another Senshi or an officer, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that she had some direction and purpose again. What mattered was that she wasn’t lost. What mattered was that… Well, that she mattered.

Ganymede made it very clear that she mattered to them. But if she jumped ship and went running back into the wide open arms of the White Moon, she was just running in circles. She left the White Moon for at least partially the same reason, and if she was being realistic, there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t be the same. So maybe instead of running, it was time for Dani to be the type of person that the Negaverse both wanted and needed. It was time for her to find someone that was willing to push her. It was time for her to step up and make a change.

It was time.