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Acubens didn't sleep much anymore. If she did, she was either haunted by her brother swinging from a rope or that monster from her past. So she made herself useful to her court by gathering energy in the small hours of the morning. The rampant violence in the city made for growing homelessness, which in turn made for easier targets for people like Acubens. She didn't even bother to hide... she'd gotten sloppy since that battle in the park. And the worst part was that she didn't even care. When the young man sleeping on a bench looked up at her in confusion she just stood there, staring back at him, not caring about the consequences.

When he finally closed his eyes again, Acubens called her wraith back and pulled a little silver flash from her corset. Taking a long, hungry swing, Acubens found a secluded spot in the park, back where the flower gardens gave way to lush, rolling hills of turf, and sat down, staring up at the stars.

"So let me get this straight," she muttered to the expressionless sky, taking another drink of whiskey, "You wake me up, turn me towards this court, and then pull this s**t? I guess I'm just not really sure what you're doing, I guess." As though the stars would answer her... unsurprisingly they winked down at her, keeping whatever secrets they had to themselves. She came from them, right? Her power may have been filtered through the mirror, but it originated from the stars... right? Shouldn't they, then, hold some answers? Acubens felt like some time, long ago, she may have had some answers... but they were like smoke. They curled around her fingers, but when she closed her fists to hold on to them... they were gone.

"What am I supposed to do," she asked weakly, ignoring the cold fingers of the dead general, wrapping tightly around her throat.

On excellent. A senshi that Acubens had never met before greeting her on one of her worse nights. She worked so hard to find Dark Mirror Senshi, to find them when she was in the best of moods, feeling the best about herself. She tried to find them when she could give them the best possible impression not only of herself but of her court. And so many times she came home having met no one. It would be that tonight, when Acubens' nightmares drove her from her bed and out into the night to drain and drink, that someone found her.

It made her laugh, however sardonic the sound.

"Oh yeah," she mused, wincing through another mouthful of burning whiskey, "I'm just peachy. That's why people drink alone, right? Because they're... peachy?" She hadn't meant to sound as biting as she did, and she only hoped that the senshi understood that her venom was directed at herself, and not at her. To make up for her tone, however, she did turn her head to greet the senshi with whatever painful smile she could. She even waved her over, made room for her in the patch of soft grass that she sat on.

"I'm just peachy," she repeated, screwing the lid back on her flask and tucking it back into her corset.

Acubens didn't need an invitation to return to her flask, but she welcomed it all the same. First, however, came the courtesies. She offered the flask to her new companion with her name.

"I'm Acubens, by the way. Senshi of Velociraptors."

And then the question. Acubens sighed, scrubbing her free hand through her messy curls as though the answer was hidden up there somewhere. Or maybe if she scraped her scalp enough she could wear a hole into her brain and uncross whatever wires were sparking and setting off all kinds of destructive behaviors.

"My nightmares are... mine to bear," she finally muttered, drawing her knees up protectively to her chest. "you'll have to forgive me, but I haven't led a... particularly clean life. It's just that now after that thing in the park with the madness and the wraiths... it's easier for my demons to catch up with me. Even demons that I thought I had put to sleep a long time ago." Bischofite breathed down her neck in that moment, whispering terrible things into her ear, making her flinch away from a demon that only she could see. He wrapped his long, deathly cold fingers around her shoulders, sticky with blood, and rooted her in place as he spoke. Acubens couldn't make out the words, but she didn't care. If she couldn't get up and escape him, then she'd burrow. So she buried her head in her arms and hid, swallowing back chokes and sobs that she would rather not deal with in front of a stranger.

Where did Acubens even start? This senshi was already getting her first impression of Acubens while she was angst drinking, so now Acubens was going to unleash the monsters from her past on her? Nu-huh. No way. All she had to do was find the key to lock them back up again, somehow get them back into their cages, and make sure they get buried in some deep dark part of her soul forever and ever. And she could do that herself.

"I was a younger sibling," she muttered around the neck of her flask, emptying the final gulp down her throat. "I never learned how to share." Hopefully, Chione would take the hint that Acubens was not willing to share this particular part of herself to a stranger just yet. Maybe someday... but not today. But that did not mean that she did not welcome to comfort when it was offered. She hugged her legs in tighter but lifted her head finally, the company making it easier to ignore the demon whispering in her ear, even still.

"What would they think of me if they knew," she asked with a sigh, as though she hadn't said anything of any real importance. "The White Moon turned its back on me when they found out. I can't have my family doing the same to me. No, it's better that I keep this secret for now. But thank you, Chione of Blizzards." She should have guessed really, by the Senshi's attire. "I'll try not to forget who I am again."

She had messed up again. Bischofite laughed like a madman in her ear, reminding her that of course you ******** it all up. This is what you do, Little Bird. You ******** everything you touch up. She curled up tighter, burying her head again, even as Chione stroked her hair.

"It's not... it's not like that," she threw over her shoulder. "It like... rationally I know that you will understand. I know that, above all else, I can count on all of you but... it's not about logic, Chione. I'm sorry that I can't tell you, I promise that someday I will but... I can't right now." She forced herself to stand, turning to take Chione's hand in her own scared ones, holding on tight like she might flee and never return. Had she made Chione think that she was turning her back on her? That she was keeping some secret about herself to be cruel? Acubens had never meant to make her think something like that... never in a million years did she want that.

"I'm just... I'm not ready to talk to anyone about it right now. I have to... I have to work through it myself first. Otherwise I can't ask for help because I don't know what help I need, you know? I'm just handing out broken parts screaming 'fix me' and no one knows what to do. I run the risk of hurting people more that way..." She forced a smile and pulled Chione into a hug. "I do appreciate you talking to me. Caring about me even though you've never met me. And someday, soon I think, I will tell you what chases me, I promise. I just need to work it out a little bit first, you know?"

Now that struck Acubens. So hard, in fact, that she forgot all about her own distress and focus wholly on the Senshi before her. She understood "not being into the whole Senshi thing" she really did. She didn't fill much of the traditional Senshi role, even despite being Dark Mirror and having other court goals. She should have still been out recruiting, but it all felt very invasive and strange to her. So she got it, she really did. It just... distressed her was all.

"Woah hang on... what do you mean we'll never meet again? Like you're never power up again?" Because that was unacceptable for Acubens. If someone didn't want to power up, it was because they didn't feel as though they had a purpose. And Chione had a purpose. She just had to uncover what that purpose was. "Okay well then... if we're family and we have to look out for each other, then I'm going to look out for you. Why don't you want to power up anymore?" Now who was the one prying? Acubens winced at her own hypocrisy but ignored it for now. If it came down to it, Acubens would reveal what she could bear to the senshi.

"But... it wasn't a fluke." It had been a simple statement, and Acubens said it like she was stating a provable fact like the grass is green or the sky is blue. She looked at Chione quizzically and searched her face for... for something. "I mean, of course he's Elsa. That's his star. And you're Chione. And I'm Acubens. Those are our stars. What's so bad about being Chione and not Elsa?" It wasn't like Acubens had never wanted to be someone else... she spent most of her life wanting to be someone else, actually. Now that she was finally comfortable in her own skin, it seemed strange to see someone else going through the same thing.

"If you spend time comparing yourself to someone else, you're going to end up miserable. And I'm not just talking about as a Senshi... as a person. I mean if this really isn't for you, then I'm not going to try and convince you to be miserable it's just... I can try and help, if you'd let me. There's lots to be doing, even if you don't want to just go out and drain people all the time. Mirror space needs to be explored and understood, I'm trying to gather as much information about us as possible... even if, like you said, it was just to hang out with people who care about you." What did she even say next? "Look, I don't know your brother. But he wasn't the one who came and tried to help me, even if I did smack your hand away. And I'm sorry about that. I'd like to be your friend, if you'd let me..."

You lost her, Bischofite whispered into her ear, latching on to her shoulders once again. She will purify and you will haf failed your family once again.. She tried to ignore him but his snarling was too loud and Acubens had to shake her head to be rid of the sound. She drew back into herself and nodded, twisting her hands together nervously.

"Oh yeah. I'll be fine. I'm always fine." She forced another smile. "You go on home, and maybe we'll catch each other again? Maybe?" Acubens was beginning not to count on it. She was missing something, she knew it, but her brain was too clouded to understand what was happening. She had to fix herself. Had to get herself right. How was she going to help her court like this?

Worsless, trash, burden, unwanted, vile,

Shut up.

Murderer.

She inhaled sharply, ignoring the pang in her gut and forced another smile and a wave. "Have a good night!"