My name is Sailor Ida and some of you know me. A few months ago, something happened on my planet and I came away from it with a new energy and glowing marks on my skin.
From what I've gathered, there are more people out there who glow as well. I think its time we got together to talk about it, because there is a lot of mystery around what it is and how its made us different.
I'm inviting those of you that I know of, and anyone you know of who has gained glowing markings to meet me at West Memorial Park, by the volleyball courts, at 11 PM Monday night. I'm sorry for the late hour, but hopefully it will lessen the number of passerby.
I will be bringing my team's cat, Liryn, to block signatures, but it wouldn't hurt if someone brought another guardian with them.
Sincerest Thanks, Sailor Ida
The dark haired senshi clicked her phone off as she sat on the back of a park bench, her boots on the seat and a small, stripped cat in her lap. Her fingers ran through his fur as she banished the phone back to its subspace pocket.
"I hope everyone shows up. I sent the message to Penthesilea and Ganymede... Hver sent it to Babylon. It sounded kinda... formal, but... I don't know Babylon and I'm not entirely sure Penthe even likes me." Ida ruffled Liryn's cheeks with both hands, affection in the petting. "We need to talk about this, though. My memories are all confused when I try to think about the glow. There are things I'm missing... maybe one of them will have the pieces I need."
At least it was a nice night... still spring, and cool, but not so much it bothered her in powered form. It was actually pretty comfortable, and quiet here with no one around but her and her guardian. Soothing. The just-risen moon limed everything in silver, casting the shadows of the lumpy sand of the volleyball court into harsh relief. The darkness was not much of a problem... even if you didn't put out your own sort of light.
Sunshine Alouette
Noir Songbird
Sami-Fire
Silverah
kuuropii
shibrogane
Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 6:30 am
Formal message, indeed.
Ganymede would have preferred (though not expected) something more along the lines of “hey, girl, meet me out by the park, we're gonna talk about this glowing s**t finally,” but she supposed considering who it was that was sending the message and the other people it was meant for, what she got instead worked well enough.
She arrived ten minutes early, which was not always her way when it came to meetings, but seeing as she knew the hostess (and liked her), and knowing what the subject matter would be ahead of time, she figured she should make an effort to show her face at a decent time. Besides, if they were going to talk about this, she thought it only appropriate for her to be there. She was, after all, the first she knew of to gain this... whatever it was.
Ganymede lifted a glowing palm when she drew close enough and gave Ida a wave in greeting.
“Hey,” she said, looking around to see if anyone else had arrived. “Do you have any idea how many we're expecting?”
She knew of Babylon's marks, but hadn't seen him in a long time, and didn't even know if he would come. Nearly everyone else was a mystery to her.
*********************************************
At Ganymede's heels, not entirely by Ganymede's choice, was a ruddy colored cat with a plumed tail.
Lucasta had heard about the meeting from her charge and thought it only appropriate that she attended. She'd missed enough of Ganymede's journey through Senshidom; now was not the time to grow lazy simply because Ganymede thought she no longer needed her guardian.
Admittedly, Lucasta had little information to add to the conversation. What Ganymede had become without here felt right, but her memories were too jumbled and distorted to be of much help in identifying what had happened. She cursed her inability to sort out her memories. Even a trip to Ganymede's homeworld had not assisted her in breaking through the apparent amnesia. She simply knew what she's always known, that there was a before and that answers could be found there.
Coming to a stop by the bench, Lucasta nodded a greeting to the Senshi in purple but reserved most of her attention for the cat in her hap.
“I bid you both a good evening,” she said. “I do hope you are well."
Though judging from the thorough petting he was getting, he was indeed quite well.
This was kind of starting to feel like a game of Telephone, even though it had only gone through two people. If Hver had relayed the message, then he was sure that it was authentic - and he sort of remembered Ida from his weird future-dreams, although they'd never met in the present. That made for a weird sort of relationship that he wasn't sure the words for. Anyway, best case scenario, tonight was informative and even a little bit fun. Worst case scenario, it was a Negaverse trap.
He brought Camlann along in case of either. (After a whole lot of persuading, of course. Come on, please, it will be good, we need to know more about what happened to us, I will owe you.)
The volleyball court wasn't hard to find. It was a little bit open for Babylon's liking - he could have offered a more private space, if he'd been the one organizing - but he hadn't been and it was no good to dwell on missed opportunities.
"Princess?" he greeted Ida, a bit uncertainly. She'd been a princess in that dark future, but then, he'd been a royal knight, and he clearly wasn't one of those now. "Gany," he said, giving the other senshi a quick wave and a friendly smile. It had been a while. "Gany's cat."
He'd arrived just a bit too late to catch the cat's name, if she'd given it.
"Other cat I don't know," he said, waving to the cat in Ida's lap. "I brought Camlann." He gestured for the squire to step forward. "He's, uh, subtle, but he's one of us. Camlann, these are Ida and Gany. Ganymede. Uh. Cats. Sorry. I don't meet many."
Whimsical Blue
Sunshine Alouette
Shibrogane
Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 11:53 am
Camlann was not a fan of listening to messages from senshi. Mostly because he wasn't a fan of senshi. In any way, shape, or form. Some of them were decent, like Oenone and Europa, but most of them were kind of balls-grippingly crazy, and allied with those ******** cats anyway. Long story short: All senshi (except Castor, he supposed, begrudgingly) could sit on it and spin. Cats were right out.
But Babylon could be really ******** annoying when he wanted to be, so in the end Camlann had acquiesced just to make it stop. If this all turned out to be a trap from Schorl or whatever other Negaverse generals wanted to turn their incompetence towards the transcendent these days, then that was what it was and he was more than capable of cloaking and ollying. Which he would do. Babylon walked into this mess of his own volition and he could walk his own damn self out.
He slouched along behind his friend, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his trousers, and offered no acknowledgment to the cats. The politest thing he could do for them was ignore them. At least the senshi got a nod. It was mildly interesting that (so far as he could see) he was the only transcendent who hadn't yet reached the pinnacle of their power. He wasn't sure what to make of that; it likely meant nothing.
When Ida had asked him if he would come along and aura block a meeting for her, Liryn had been happy to agree to help.
It had occurred to him to ask how many, but that was where it got kind of tricky - because the meeting was for glowy people like Ida and she wasn't sure how many of them there were out there.
She knew of three in addition to herself - Ganymede who he knew from the Black Watch and most recently as one of those that the Negaverse had taken during New Year's, another senshi called Penthe and a Knight called Babylon - which including herself made for at least four if everyone came. She had also asked them to pass the message on to any who shared the glowing markings which meant that potentially there could be a lot more than four people turning up and therein lay the problem - because if too many came then Liryn wasn't sure whether he'd be able to block out all their auras - after all he hadn't been able to on Avalon.
He wouldn't let it stop him from trying though, although he knew that it would be best to have at least one other cat to give him a hand.
He had thought of Ash and had used the communication device that had come out of a cat collaboration effort at HQ - well okay more like Ash had shown them what to do and he had followed her instructions - to drop Ash a message. He hadn't managed to get hold of Ash though even though he had given her some brief details and the location and so wasn't sure if she would be able to make it.
He had sat content in Ida's lap as they settled to wait to see who would come, enjoying the petting. He had managed to put together that the Penthe Ida had mentioned earlier and the Penthesilea she had sent the message to were one and the same, the longer name familiar from somewhere... He thought it might be Avalon.
"Talking is good" he agreed, the purr in his voice a side-effect of the petting. "As is sharing - things go better when we work together." He didn't get why she thought that this Penthe, whether she turned out to be the same Penthe from Avalon or not, wouldn't like - because Ida wasn't only strong but she was nice with it... Not that he was biased because he totally wasn't - that she was also his senshi had nothing to do with it but co-incidence - at least not to his way of thinking.
There wasn't really time for much conversation as people started to arrive. First was Ganymede who brought with her a familiar ruddy-furred cat and he turned his attention towards them his voice cheerful as he greeted first one then the other "Hi Ganymede, hi Lucasta." He had first met the ruddy furred cat in the aftermath of the New Year's Ball kidnappings - had shared information with her on the search - and had later saw her during the cat communicator collaboration session. That she was with Ganymede suggested that they had finally found each other and as such Liryn was happy for the other mauvian.
He was also happy for Lucasta's presence for another reason "Are you here to help aura-block?" Because it would be easier with the two of them instead of him doing it alone.
He didn't get a chance to answer Ganymede's question querying how many they were expecting as Knight clad in white, blue and grey took that moment to arrive along with a red-haired Squire.
"I'm Liryn and this is Lucasta" he told the Knight in answer to his 'Gany's cat' and 'other cat I don't know' comment although his voice wasn't offended as he studied the Knight's markings with curiosity, the markings making him think of circuits and circuity a little.
Although with both Ida and Ganymede and the two Knights here it meant that he should probably get to work and so he gave Ida a little bump with his head. "There's four of you here" for a moment he looked at Ganymede and the two Knights "So I'm going to sit here and start aura-blocking 'kay."
He guessed he could have jumped down from her lap and found somewhere out of the way or something as he started to work on suppressing the four auras, but he didn't really want to - Ida's lap was comfortable.
Whimsical Blue
Sunshine Alouette
Silverah
shibrogane
Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 7:31 am
Lucasta spared the two Knights who arrived a short glance, but otherwise had little reaction to one of them referring to her as nothing more than "Gany's cat." It was, in her opinion, quite rude to make assumptions like that, and she demonstrated this with an imperious look in his direction
She focused instead on Liryn, whom she thought she could possibly consider a friend. After all, they had encountered one another on more than one occasion, and Liryn had been kind enough to share information with her during the New Year's fiasco. At the very least, she considered him an ally. “Friend” was a difficult title to earn, was it not?
“Indeed,” she said, “I thought it appropriate to offer my assistance. Ganymede tells me there may be more than a few joining you this evening.”
**********************************************
“There were more of us that were captured over New Year's,” Ganymede explained. It was a struggle not to sound as if the event bothered her. “Since Ida and Babylon weren't captured there are at least two more.”
She glanced toward the young man who'd arrived with Babylon and wondered if he might be one of them, but thought it rather rude to ask outright if he was. That time was difficult for her to talk about. She didn't want to force the same discomfort onto someone else. She didn't recognize his name, in any case.
So she looked to Babylon instead and smiled a greeting, lifting one glowing hand to wave at him.
“Hey,” she said. “It's been a while.”
She tried not to feel hurt by how distant he felt. She liked to think they were friends, but she hadn't been the best at keeping up with him over the years. Not that he was any better, she thought, but she was the sort to place the blame on herself in these situation before placing it on anyone else. Especially after Cyllene, she felt responsible for any distance that might have come between herself and any one of her teammates—former or current.
“You look good,” she added. She held back the compulsion to offer a hug, not sure it would be welcome. “White's a good color on you.”
It was a relief to feel the first pure senshi aura arrive. It was another that it was a friend.
“Ganymede! Hi!” Ida called back with a broad smile. There was a cat with her, a pretty brown thing with a bow and a cultured voice. She wrapped her arms around Liryn as she shifted, sliding off of the bench. “Its nice to meet you, Lucasta.”
There were more people arriving behind Ganymede and neither was a face she knew. Well… sort of… Ida smiled self-conciously as she found her feet, cat in her arms. She remembered this man, actually. And if he called her Princess, then he remembered her too, from that other future.
“Babylon. Its nice to finally get to meet you. Officially that is.” She offered her hand to him, glancing between him and his companion. “I’m afraid I’m not a princess now, though. I’m glad you came as well, Camlann. Welcome.”
The senshi had a moment of indecision over offering her hand to the new knight. His body language hinted he might not want to be here, and there was no sort of openness to it… but it was polite, and she wanted him to feel like she was glad he had come. When she released Babylon’s hand, she turned and offered to the saturn knight, her own glow crawling down to the symbol of Ida on her palm.
“I’m really glad everyone came. I also invited Penthesilea, but I haven’t heard if she’s coming or not. If you’d all rather talk somewhere else, we don’t have to stay here. I just thought it was a good place to meet. I’d like to know what sorts of things you’ve found that are different since the glow appeared, and if you’re willing to share, what happened before it showed up. I feel like we might be able to find common threads and maybe figure out what’s causing this.”
Sunshine Alouette
Noir Songbird
Sami-Fire
Silverah
kuuropii
shibrogane
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 9:41 pm
If cats could be said to glower, thought Babylon, he was pretty sure that Lucasta was glowering at him right now. He made a mental note: Liryn seemed nicer.
"Been busy," Babylon shrugged, not about to go into detail. Yes, he'd run off to the Galapagos for three months, but that had been for Important Life Things and at least he'd taken Avalon with him this time. After having a near-death experience over the summer, hadn't he deserved some time to relax and study biodiversity? But if he told Ganymede that, she'd tell Valhalla, and then he'd probably get a howler. So, instead, he nodded and said, "Thanks. Is that a new skirt?"
It was probably a new skirt, he thought, if the changes to his own uniform were anything to go by. Something about her was definitely different.
Turning his attention back to the seated senshi, Babylon considered Ida's hand for a moment. "Royal or not, it's still an honor to finally meet you," he said, before taking her fingers lightly and leaning over to kiss them. It seemed more natural than shaking, after all. She was right in saying they'd never officially met before, but his only context for her was as a princess - and a rather authoritative one at that. The rank might be gone now, but her potential for courageousness didn't depend on a great crystal - right?
"Well," he said, straightening up and taking a step back, "I'm gonna go ahead and guess that the rest of you didn't shove your ancestor's damaged starseed into your own chest, have a near-death experience, and only survive because of the good grace of Sailor Cosmos. Was that just me?"
God, he hoped it was just him - mostly because he wanted to think that everyone else was smarter than he was.
Hm. So that's where the names were familiar from. 'Ganymede' alone hadn't been enough to remind him; his involvement with the New Year's project hadn't been that profound. But two names, in such close conjunction? Come to think of it, hadn't he heard of the name Hvergelmir before meeting her with Teide, too? Well, it wasn't like he'd seen any of them. He'd done all of two shifts watching who went in and out of the cells, which prisoners obviously didn't. And most of them were called 'the prisoner' in his hearing.
Enh. Enhhh. "It is a pleasure," he said, acquiescing to shake Ida's hand since, like, Babylon had kissed it. Babylon was generally a good touchstone for the standards of basic manners among the powered set. His tone still implied that he would rather be floating in dead space, but at least he was making the motions.
"It was just you," said Camlann. "I committed ritual murder. Unsuccessfully, but it seems that it is the thought that counts. But I have noticed nothing different, other than that a Captain attempting to take my starseed was... unsuccessful." And exhilarating. He shrugged.
Whimsical Blue
Silverah
litian
Sunshine Alouette
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 8:04 am
Ganymede tried not to be hurt that Ida got a chivalrous kiss to the hand while she herself got barely more than a “hi, how are you,” from Babylon.
Like they were little more than strangers.
She knew Babylon and her husband hardly got along at the best of times and weren't always on good terms—in fact, she was pretty sure they were constantly on bad ones—but she hadn't thought the distant demeanor would extend to her. She wondered if it would be worth it to force the issue but decided against it. Forcing physical contact where it wasn't wanted never ended well, in her experience.
So she clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels and said, “Yeah, sorta,” to the question about her skirt, then waited while the pleasantries were dispensed with.
Ganymede rolled her eyes a bit out of habit at the princess talk, wearing a bemused expression. Of course she remembered these things about Ida from those strange dreams of the future, but as it obviously didn't apply now, nor did it have any bearing on the current situation, she thought it rather silly to bring it up like it was natural.
None of that—those dreams or... those premonitions, whatever they'd been—had been natural.
“All I know is neither Avalon or Laurelite were able to do anything to my starseed after... I'm not sure what point,” she said, filing back through her memories. “But there was one time I was on my homeworld and I sort of went through this memory and when it was over the skies were blue and the sun was shining, which doesn't make much sense but it wasn't like that before then. And after that is when all the weird stuff started to happen.
“But I've noticed I heal faster on my homeworld,” she added. She then paused and wondered if she'd said too much all at once. “Sorry, maybe we should wait to see if anyone else shows? I don't know, you said you invited Pentheselia too, right?” she asked of Ida. “I think she was one of the ones that was... you know, over New Year's...”
Talk of ritual murder put a look of distaste onto Ganymede's face. She almost asked who was the one who'd been murdered but decided it couldn't have been any of the people she wanted to see dead, so she said nothing else on the subject and tried instead to control her facial expressions.
** Sorry for the double quote! Missed Romeo's post while I was writing mine up!
The kiss Babylon pressed to her hand earned him a rise of color in Ida's face. She wasn't sure she'd ever be entirely comfortable with such shows of respect from people. Rank had never been anything more than a useful tool... something that came with more power, more usefulness, and weight behind her words when she needed to use it. Babylon had even matched her... so maybe it was simply old-fashioned politeness that made him do it, much the way she felt Naeryofjord might had kissed her knuckles a time or two.
Her face was still pink through the grasp of hands with Camlann, but the color faded quickly at his almost... off-handed mention of ritual murder as his cause. Ida's eyes widened, but she didn't jerk away from him.
There were so many details missing from that statement... who had he tried to kill? Why? There were more than a few on their own side who seemed to consider death the solution to ending the conflict. The right and just punishment for those who preyed on the people of this city. Ida had never agreed with it, but her vehement defense had faded over time to a quiet disapproval. No one cared to listen to her position on that particular issue, it had been pointless to continue insisting when it had become increasingly the only way of dealing with the Negaverse as their numbers dwindled.
I can't even claim I'd never do it, anymore. Bischofite is proof of that.
Ida cleared her throat as she turned enough to view all three of the group, her hands falling to curl around the compact that hung by her stomach.
"Yeah, I invited Penthesilea. She was in the New Year's capture as well." Which was a good reminder that Ganymede had been. Ida's eyes swept her, but she looked recovered, on the surface. Shifting closer, the orchid senshi reached out to slide her finger's around Gany's, giving her hand a squeeze. "I don't know if she's coming or not, but I'm hopeful."
"When I was on my homeworld, I had memories of the graveyard there and it led me to where my body was buried in my past life. I remembered a ritual the senshi of Ida did when passing on the duty from one to the next, so I recreated it by planting a special type of tree as a headstone and reciting an oath. My planet responded and the glow appeared. The asteroid changed too... the petrified trees woke up and put out leaves again." She said, recounting her own experience. She left out the why of all of this, keeping her eyes carefully away from Ganymede. The eternal knew the why... but her reaction when Ida had told her made her wary of telling anyone again. "I haven't had anyone reach for my starseed, but I can give energy to other people if I concentrate and touch them. Its not a lot, but it can be helpful. I'm also... weaker in my normal magic. My attacks aren't as strong as they were before. I also... energy drain easier, I think. Painite pulled from me and it was like the energy just... jumped out of me. I don't know if its relevant, but I've also noticed a significant increase in the number of youma I run into now. I dust double or triple what I used to when I patrolled."
Was that everything? She thought it might be. Gany had already mentioned healing faster.
Still quoting everyone, as a reminder this is still open for your joining. <3
Sunshine Alouette
Noir Songbird
Sami-Fire
Silverah
kuuropii
shibrogane
litian
Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 9:14 am
Ganymede's mention of Avalon spurred something in the back of Babylon's own mind, and he chimed in, "Avalon couldn't pull my starseed even before my uniform changed. I mean - it was the same night that Sailor Cosmos saved me?" He cringed. That sounded too religious to him in all the wrong ways. "But it - I don't know when that would have started. It was a pretty rough two weeks. People kept trying to kill me and I like, very nearly fell over and died?"
He shrugged haplessly. "Two starseeds. Not even once. Honestly, I'm just really glad to hear that other people aren't going through the same thing as me? Because that sucked."
But hey, he figured, it was time to stop dwelling on the past. "The aftermath I've seen is pretty much the same as what Ida's describing. The trees and flowers on my Wonder are all alive. The streets and buildings seem like they're in better repair. The lights stay lit longer. And I can do that energy-giving thing. It's pretty useful."
He'd had cause to use it a few times, anyway.
"Oh!" he added. "And I can travel there twice as often as I used to be able to. That's by far the most noticeable difference. Besides, uh, the glowing? And the sweet new uniform?"
Megrez had gotten word of a meeting from Penthesilea, and when she heard about who had sent the message, it sent a rush of excitement through her. Ida. She knew that name, though she knew it in a more remote sense than she would have liked. Princess Ida had shown her great kindness in that tortured future, and that had left an indelible mark on her. Ever since then, she had wanted to meet her for real, in this timeline, and thank her, or at least get to know her. Someone that gentle struck Megrez as an amazing person, given the circumstances.
She was so used to looking for signatures that she almost missed the meeting place until she saw that there were actually people there. Sure enough, quite a few glowing marks were visible. If Penthe had been there, there would have been a hell of a lot more. She approached the party with a spring to her step, excited to meet Ida and all the others. "Hi, everybody!" she nearly chirped as she approached. "It sure looks like I'm in the right place," she said, holding out her left arm to show off the glowing feathers. "Penthe gave the message to me, she should be here soon... ish."
Her gaze skimmed over everyone present, and she veritably completely glossed over the Knights in favor of the face she recognized from her dreams. "Ida! Is that you?" She strode forward and took Ida's hands (probably getting in the way of a bunch of other people as she did). "It really is you, isn't it? I've been looking for you! I've had things I want to tell you..." And there was another familiar face in the crowd, one that she also wanted to talk to, but one she was also more wary of. She abruptly broke gaze with Ida and looked to Ganymede instead. "Oh, hi, Gany! I have things I want to tell you, too. Maybe later."
Sunshine Alouette
Noir Songbird
Whimsical Blue
Silverah
kuuropii
shibrogane
litian
Posted: Thu May 14, 2015 4:03 pm
(( sorry for the delay, life's been rough! ))
Celsus had indeed gotten the notice, unexpectedly. He was unfamiliar with who Sailor Ida was, but the idea of meeting with others who shared the same...well, he didn't want to call it an affliction, since that implied something negative, but regardless, he was actually relatively pleased that there were others like him in existence. Absently he lifted a hand, fingers tracing over the side of his face where the markings glowed a soft gold, and Celsus pushed to his feet, cape sweeping behind him.
When he arrived at the designated meeting spot, he caught a glimpse of several others, which meant two things: a) that there was more than one other person; and b) he was late.
The latter of these two things was the reason for the mildly sheepish expression on Celsus' face as he slipped quietly up to the group, fingers linked together behind his back, dark red hair sweeping across his pale forehead and face, which was smattered with a sprinkling of freckles.
"Good evening," he said lightly, casting a smile around at all of them and giving a slight bow, a sharply defined accent rolling across his tongue. "Forgive my lateness, I'm Celsus."
Penthesilea had thought long and hard about whether she was actually going to the little meetup Ida had invited her to. She didn't particularly want to, even though she'd forwarded the invitation to Megrez, because...well, frankly, because she was afraid.
A mass gathering of people who gave off powerful, pure auras and literally glowed struck her as unsafe. She didn't want to end up captured again, dragged back into some dark Negaverse hellhole so Schörl could complete her threat and turn her into a broken human battery. She couldn't be corrupted, sure, and eventually they'd have to kill her - but fueling their operations for however long they could make her do that didn't seem appealing.
But on the other hand, maybe she could learn more about her condition, and surely there would be plenty of other people.
So finally she decided to go, but she was very definitely late, and so she slid in silently, resting her hands on her hips and waiting. It wasn't like her arrival was inconspicuous anyway; she was apparently the most beglow'd person there.
