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Acubens had returned to the battlefield multiple times since that night, looking for answers. She had gotten precious few in the labyrinth, but she was hungry for more. She had to know. she had to understand. The mystery of her court was the largest, most complex puzzle she'd ever encountered, and she was making it her mission to piece it together. This was just another handful of pieces. What was that thing? Where, exactly, had it come from? How old was it? When had it begun? All these questions and more swirled around Acubens' head like a hurricane, leaving only confusion in its wake.

Teh battle had left scars on the park that the city had yet to heal. Young trees lay bent and broken. Flower beds were trampled and uprooted. Benches had been broken, turf dug up, and some of the stones on the walkway sported brown stains no one had washed away. Acubens' heart lurched, her stomach twisted as she remembered that night, the horrible vision the wraith had shown her, and the sin she had committed. She may have stopped drinking, but she was a long way from coming to terms with it. Maybe this was the first step...

A voice cause Acubens to halt her reverie and look up. A chibi senshi had happened upon her... had she been at the battle? It was difficult to remember... Teh haze of panic and madness had clouded Acubens' memory. But she smiled and lifted an arm in greeting anyway, turning back to the broken scene before her.

"What brings you out here?"

Acubens nodded, raking her hands through her hair as she thought. "I was. And I lost for a little while too. And it's really gone. I was there when we locked it back up..." The second battle in the labyrinth. Both had come together to create what must have been the longest, most stressful night of her life. "I wanted to destroy them but... Royals know best, I suppose..." She righted a bench as best she could, though it sagged on broken legs. After a moment, it crumbled into a sad little pile, and Acubens grunted in disapproval. So much for that...

"We must have missed each other then. God knows there was plenty else to focus on." She held a scared hand out to the chibi, forcing herself to smile despite her distraction. "I'm Acubens."

Lepus... Acubens wondered for a moment what her sphere was, but gave up on that. She wasn't truly in the mood for small talk. Not when there were puzzles to be solved. Things to be rectified. Acubens wondered just how much she could do alone. Maybe she could employ the help of other Dark Mirror Senshi... maybe even of some White Mooners as well. If she did that, it had the added bonus of good PR but... god, but how did she go about doing such a thing? She huffed her displeasure and crossed her arms across her chest. There had to be a way... some way to fix all of this. After all, this was a little bit their fault. The wraith had come from mirror space. The fighters had been mostly Dark Mirror Senshi...

"There must be a way to fix this," she muttered, turning to face the chibi senshi beside her. "The Dark Mirror Court is mostly responsible for this... it was our monster, our senshi that made up the bulk of the fight... I just... I don't know how to fix it."

"The sooner the better," Acubens muttered, kicking a clot of dirt that might have, at one point, been a bedding plant. Damn, damn, damn, she cursed inwardly. And whispers were spreading that this hadn't been the only wraith. She had precious few answers, but each question answered gave birth to fifteen more, and Acubens was having trouble keeping them all straight.

"Asking around is a good idea... what about you, do you have any suggestions?" May as well start now, here, with whoever was with her. Who knew... from the mouths of babes, after all. Then again, most chibi Senshi that she had known were more mature than many adults that she knew. They were veterans too, after all.

"Really this is just a way not to sleep. Been having nightmares recently. Trying to outrun them." Acubens jumped at the sounds of wings behind her.

Acubens shrugged dismissively at the girl's apology and offered her a small smile.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but there's nothing that can be done. My brain is trying to work through something and until he figures itself out, I'm the one who gets kicked around." She finished with a mirthless laugh and tried to straighten up a little where she was standing, picking up unearthed flowers if only to make her hands busy. Something to keep her mind from betraying her and sliding back to the glass forest and the crow that lived in the middle of it. Anything to ignore the truth in what he said.

"Maybe we can start by picking up some of the debris? It looks like some of these flowers have homes..." Acubens gently placed on of the blooms into a planter that looked to have several of the same type of flower still bedded down. "People from the city will be here soon to clean it up, but there's no reason we can't make the work a little easier on them. Many hands make small work and all that..." Her smile came easier this time, her nerves soothed by the pleasant talk with the chibi senshi and the calm of the night.

"So, Lepus," Acubens mused after a moment, bending down to stick the rest of the flowers in her hands back into the soil. "You've got an awfully cute fuku there, kiddo. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. What's your sphere?" No reason not to continue the small talk. And Acubens was genuinely curious, after all, and no harm in building positive bridges with both sides. Besides, maybe a friend in the mirror could turn this little one's star towards them and they can save someone else.

At the very least Acubens would have another friend, which was never a bad thing.

"Velociraptors," Acubens said simply, albeit with a bit of strain as she hoisted a rather hefty planter back into its place.

"Not that I don't have the utmost respect for chibi senshi," she went on, bending down to pick up pieces of god only knew what, "but I've always wondered how you guys feel about being called to action so young. Not that you can speak for the whole but... I mean how does being expected to fight as a child make you feel?"

Ever since she'd met Lenka, she'd wondered about that. Wondered how it felt to be asked to grow up so fast and under such circumstances...

"I mean, I was awakened when I was 16, and it was still a struggle... to put it lightly."

Acubens laughed, knowing full well what an over-inflated sense of self children tended to have. She set to work organizing a raised bed of violets as best she could, trying to pull off the bent stems and heads while Lepus talked.

"Kids shouldn't have to fight." she finally said simply. "It's our jobs as adults to protect you. I mean, I know that you can, and that you do. It's just... I don't like it. The idea of child soldiers... it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

And interesting dichotomy, for sure. She wanted to be supportive but... she didn't want to have to be supportive. There should have been nothing needing her support in the frist place.

"That's one thing I can say about the negaverse," she said without thinking as she patted the last bloom into place. "At least they don't draft kids into this stupid war. Among their many many sins, there is that one thing that they got right. Not that it outweighs anything, mind you. Still don't trust them."

Acubens finally stood, knees creaking, and yawned. Lepus might not have a bedtime, but she did. And it was passed it by a wide margin. The idea of bed was becoming more and more likable with each passing moment, and she was also quite sure that she wasn't going to suffer another nightmare. At least not that night.

"Anyway, thanks for talking to me, Lepus. Come find me next time you want to hang out. I'll spring for coffee or something." Did kids drink coffee? She didn't stick around to find out. There was a mirror that she kept behind the bathrooms and she tossed Lepus a sleepy wave as she vanished into the polished glass.

Merurulince

Fin? We can start a fresh RP if you want <3