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Rhona had fallen in love that day. Deeply and irrevocably in love. She was broken, Rhona's new true love, hollow and a shadow of herself but... Rhona loved her all the same. She passed her by on a walk, surprised that she had never seen this old gal before. She made Rhona stop in her tracks, look twice, and almost popped her eyes out of their sockets. The whole world stood still and then fell into complete and perfect silence. Before her, the old church stood, proud despite her smoke-stained walls. Or perhaps because of them. Her windows were broken, blown out by the fire that scorched her back end. The beams had fallen in the back as well. Other parts of her had rotten and broken. Even the landscaping was dead and neglected, overgrowing where it could and dying out where it could not. But Rhona loved her.

And Rhona had to have her.

but when she looked into it she was more than Rhona could afford. Her meager savings had been drained by the hospital bills that she had to pay out, leaving nothing for Rhona's new love. It damn near broke her heart when she looked online at the price and saw how many zeroes were attached to that building. She actually had cried. The feeling of perfect peace that fell over her when she first saw the building was incomparable to any feeling she had experienced since coming over to the Dark Mirror Court. She hadn't felt that peace, ironically enough, since she had joined in the first place.

Acubens powered up, body itching from restlessness and she took to the streets. A little energy here, a little there. Enough to drag eye lids, but never enough to do any real damage. Someone suggested going to get coffee, another said that they would cut through the park to get home sooner and curl up on the couch. She never took more than her share, and less than her fill. It took longer, and it was more work, but she got her quota one way or the other. And no one got hurt. As the last of her wraiths sunk back into her shard, Acubens turned her eyes skyward, searching the heavens for answers to questions she didn't know how to ask. She had been looking for a way to define herself as Rhona Lee... and this had felt so much like definition that it hurt her not to grasp it.

"Why did you show me this? Why did I find her if I can't have her?"

the feeling of order pulled at her senses, cutting off her line of questions in favor of more pressing matters.

"Hello?"

Oh good. A friendly voice. Acubens followed it to the basic senshi that she had felt and put in her familiar friendly smile. No one deserved to be faced with someone in a sour mood, Who knew, after all. Maybe she was the first dark mirror that this new senshi would be seeing. God knew she had been the first for others as well. And she always tried to pay them the same courtesy that Remarque and Lesath had paid to her so long ago. A smile and a kind word were the first things they met her with. And so those would be the first things she met someone else with.

"Hi, yeah, sorry to surprise you," Acubens grinned, finally finding the senshi as she crept from her hiding spot. Now that was interesting. She had been hiding? From what? From whom? Acubens sent her senses out for a moment, trying to find someone else around but found nothing. Maybe she was just... hiding. Acubens' brow knitted over her eyes, though her smile never faltered.

"I'm Acubens. Dark Mirror Senshi of Velociraptors. I was just out doing some routine stuff when I noticed that you were all on your own. Thought I'd drop in and say hello. Ask if you needed or wanted a little company. It gets kinda lonely out here for people like us." People who were uncertain, if the hiding meant anything. It was a risk but... it would be worth it. If for no other reason than good PR. The senshi looked sweet, if hesitant. Her fuku seemed to be a wrapping of bandages, making Acubens wonder about her sphere. Mummies? Injuries? Difficult to say. Not that her own fuku was very telling. That was part of why she introduced herself with her sphere. Sure, part was pride, but there was also the answer to the question that people didn't usually like to ask. God knew that once they heard "dark mirror" they had enough other and arguably more pressing questions.

Acubens, thankful for the kindness, took the hand that was offered and grinned brightly.

"A pleasure to meet you as well."

Bandages. She should have guessed it. That would explain the splashes of red too. Now that was an interesting sphere, wasn't it? Probably had a healing buff... not a bad partner to have on her side... But Acubens pushed the thought from her mind and just enjoyed the company of the other woman as she was, order aligned and all.

"No apologies necessary," Acubens cooed, sweeping an arm out to lead Lacerta on their way. She couldn't very well gather energy with a guest... well she could, but that really did feel like third date material. So Acubens left of mirror shards in her pocket and began walking, slow enough for Lacerta to keep time with her, but signaling the need to move all the same.

"So," she began, filling the peace of the night with pleasantries, "how are you liking White Moon life?" Though Acubens suspected that she knew the answer. It was one that she got all too often when she asked that question. It was an answer that she had once upon a time... and thinking of others suffering under the same heartbreak caused a flicker in her smile. It was nearly instantaneous, but it was there. "Any big stories to share or triumphs to celebrate?"

And there it was. Acubens smiled softly at her new companion and nodded knowingly. I don't know what to do. I'm at a loss. No one is leading me. A story that mirrored Acubens' own all too painfully. Lacerta didn't even know what "White Moon" meant. No one had taught her jack. She worked hard to press the anger rising in her throat before she answered the obvious question in Lacerta's parrotted response.

"Yeah, White Moon. It's what you are. A White Moon senshi, Order aligned. The easiest explanation is 'good guy' but that's not really... accurate. As with all wars there isn't really a 'good' side and a 'bad' side. There are just... sides." Was that too strong? Too late now, Acubens could only keep wandering down this road she had paved for herself.

"The Negaverse, those agents in military uniforms, they are Chaos aligned. They... okay they might actually be bad guys... trust to nega b***h, that's what I always say. But you are just trying to protect you and yours. Like I am. And even though I'm Chaos aligned, I'm not a bad guy... at least I don't think that I am..." Acubens paused in her explanation for a moment, pondering the question she had given herself but decided, after a few moments, that it would be a puzzle to solve another day.

"And yes," she finally answered, "surviving as long as you have without guidance is always a success. The White Moon is notoriously bad at taking care of their own if you aren't part of an elite portion of the faction. It's why I left." A door opened. A sliver of light shining through. An invitation to a question and an answer. It was a path Acubens had cleared so many times before and she felt the same swell of anticipation ballooning within her again. A chance to tell her faction's story. To tell her story. Of rebirth, of struggle, of survival. Of family. She watched Lacerta carefully, gauging her reaction to see if she could press on. She woudl abandon course for the moment if necessary.

Acubens smiled at the invitation for more information. Most of her story was bloody and frightening but... she'd tell that part another time. Instead, Acubens took a deep breath, centered herself for the rather painful recounting of her first life, and began in a voice that wavered perhaps too much.

"Well, Lacerta... let's see. I was awakened into the White Moon when I was 18 years old by a cat whose name I never learned simply because I never saw her again. She didn't understand why I was suddenly panicked, but how could I not be? I was being attacked by a monster and now suddenly I was a magical girl?" Acubens laughed despite herself and offered her arm to Lacerta, adding, "I think I'd rather walk while we talk. This story makes me a bit anxious... but back to what I was saying...

"I couldn't find a White Moon senshi willing to take me under their wing. Some tried, but never stuck around. I had a mentor named Europa, but I haven't seen her for years. The only one who took an interest in me was Chibi Sailor Lenka... gosh, she must be a fully fledged senshi by now... But, in the end, she was just one White Moon tie that I had. I formed stronger bonds with the Dark Mirror Court. The first one I ever met was Leto, then an Eternal, now a Princess. I loved her once, I think. But she's married to another and has adorable twins last I heard. Next, I met Lesath, then a basic senshi like me, now an Eternal as well. I loved her too, though she also is married and has children." Acubens was beginning to see a pattern with her crushes, but she pushed the thought from her mind and carried on. "Then I met Remarque, then a Super Senshi, now a Prince. So now I have three bonds to the Dark Mirror Court and precious one to the White Moon. No matter how much I looked for a reason to stay, I couldn't find one. I tried to work from the inside, telling other White Moon senshi that the Dark Mirror Court wasn't the negaverse, no matter how their auras felt. But no one would listen. Worse, I was attacked for it. Branded a traitor. I was untouchable.

"But I fell in love with a girl named Keren in that time, and she and Lenka both kept me grounded. But then Keren went missing and it ruined me." Acubens sighed deeply, running her free hand through her mess of curls and blinked away the tears. It took her a moment to steady the growing shake of her voice.

"There was more tragedy to follow, but I'll save that for another time. I grew into a Super Senshi myself and at the end of my struggles and my bleeding and my loneliness I crawled to Leto and begged to come home. And she saved me. I was baptized by the Dark Mirror, taken in by Remarque and Lesath, taught everything that they know, and now I've got my own brood." Her voice steadied some as she began to speak of happier times. "They're my family. The whole court is. The one that I chose. I gave up a lot to be with them, but I don't regret it."

Not always at least. And less now that she was finding her feet.

"All births are bloody, Lacerta. Mine was no different. The birth of my Court is drenched in the same viscera. But again... a story for another time. We're wiping the blood from ourselves and out names slowly but surely... I don't even know if this helped you, I'm sorry. My path is my own, and I would be honored to help you find yours but... you're the one who has to walk it. Pit falls and all."

Lacerta listened quietly, and Acubens was grateful. She didn't mind questions, in fact, she was glad to answer them, but it was nice to have someone to listen Especially if she was going through some of the same things that Acubens was going through. Maybe she could direct Lacerta to Lenka if she didn't want to corrupt. Acubens knew first hand how good of a teacher the young lady could be... How old would she be now? Certainly a full-fledged Senshi by this time. Fifteen? Sixteen? Had Acubens really been away that long? Time slipped through her fingers as quickly as it seemed to linger and drag by contrast.

It was the hug, however unsure the other Senshi was, that pulled Acubens from her own thoughts. She smiled easily and leaned into the embrace, offering one arm of her own.

"I'll certainly do the best I can. And if I can't answer them then we'll sure do our best to find someone who does know." Acubens could think of half a dozen good sources off the top of her head, the problem was that they were mostly Dark Mirror Senshi. But at the end of the day, Acubens wanted Lacerta to have all the information that she could hold before she made a decision one way or the other. And tricking someone into corrupting, even if it was just lying by omission, was not Acubens' style.

"But I mean as unbiased as I will try to be, it is inevitable. I suggest seeking out answers on both sides. Start with Sailor Lenka. She was my teacher before I corrupted. she might still be in the game, I'm not sure. After that, Look for Sailor Scylla. She's got information that Lenka won't have, specifically about the Dark Mirror Court. She was there when it was created. All knowledge is good knowledge, and each faction has its own ideas and beliefs. Take us, for example." Acubens held out her arms after releasing Lacerta, gesturing to herself. "However we started, and whatever our values were when Ares created us, The Dark Mirror Court now knows that there is no true winner in this war for the earth. Even if we can win on this front, it's only one battle. The Negaverse controls the rest of the earth, ask anyone. If we beat back this wave of officers, another wave will crash against us. An endless cycle of vengeance and death. So we're not fighting. We're looking for another home. Our Prince, Remarque, travels to home planets to try and figure out if and how we can do that too. take our own loved ones. Make a new home where the negaverse can't touch us."

Acubens nodded as Lacerta accepted the names that she offered, but smiled when her company was requested for future reference. She took Lacerta's hands again and nearly gushed her answer with an emphatic nod.

"Of course I'll be around. If you ever need me, go to a mirror and call my name. Chances are I'll be passing through mirrorspace and hear it." She spent enough time in there that the possibility wasn't so out of the question. "Otherwise I tend to keep my own patrols to residential areas around the shopping district. Someone's gotta keep that nega scum out of the neighborhoods." Acubens grinned at her own sentiment and was about to say more when something familiar tugged on her senses. Pulling out her compact, she was greeted with the face of a basic senshi whom she had taken under her wing recently.

"Acubens, I have a quick question about youma and dusting them and are we allowed to because I did and now I'm hiding from its officer."

Acubens went stiff for just a moment before she let out an audible sigh and ruffled her wild curls.

"Ah... okay. Stay where you are and I'll be there in a jiff." Though she worked to keep the vague panic from her voice, she couldn't keep it from her eyes.

"Under normal circumstances," Acubens began as she snapped her compact shut, "I'd invite you along. But if this officer had a personal youma, that they were a general and I don't want you mixed up wtih them. So do me a favor and stay off of..." Acubens fell silent, stretching out her senses to find her protege, "Central Ave and 6th Street for the night."

She blew Lacerta a kiss and tossed her a wink before she left, vanishing through a mirror that she revealed from behind thick brush.