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True to its name, this time of year is unnaturally clear and it’s incredibly easy to see the stars. They sparkle with more colors and vibrancy than usual. Sometimes you can see odd lights, but everything is so far away it's hard to tell what's real and what's an illusion, but it's a magical and overwhelming sensation all the same. Every year there is a meteor shower at this time, and this year is no different; the sky is full of shooting stars, so now's the perfect opportunity to find a dark place to watch the stars and make a wish! Whatever wish you make, you wind up having the most surreal dream of it being granted. What did you wish for--and what direction did your dream take? What happens when you wake up to reality?
It was exceptional.
Blue eyes gazed up at the meteors as they showered down from the heavens and graced them with quite an extraordinary show. In the last few years she hadn't paid as much attention to these things, otherwise engaged or distracted in matters beyond whims that would often be considered childish. However, some of these childish notions had been revealed to be true in weeks gone by and for this reason she had pushed herself to move to one of the darker areas of the city so that she could watch the show she hadn't seen since she was small... Or at least, hadn't appreciated since she was small.
She'd already adopted a childish pose, sat down with her arms wrapped around her knees and her chin firmly pressed against them. With the weather as pleasant as it was and the breeze just as gentle, she found herself at complete ease. This was the way things should have been, this relaxed and content feeling that she hadn't experienced in several weeks. It was something that she hadn't realised she had missed until her shoulders had relaxed and she had finally fallen backwards on to the grass.
Rolling her arms back to cross them behind her head she continued to gaze up towards the lights and took a deep breath, now this was the life.
Ah, but wasn't it customary to ask for a wish in the midst of an astral performance such as this?
A warm smile crept onto her lips and she closed her eyes, trivial as it might have seemed she wished she could be more useful. She had yet to come to terms with who and what she was, why her powers were as they were, and deep down she couldn't help but wonder if it would have been more advantageous to remain oblivious. More importantly, was it at all possible to go back to the way things were knowing what she was now? Sure she had some element of new power but when it came to using it, it hadn't been good for much at all so no one would miss her, right?
Her eyes remained shut and no sooner had she taken another few breaths then she found herself to have drifted off into a world quite familiar, but different.
The deeper she slipped into sleep the more unusual this world became; it seemed no different to where she was now. It was simply that events began to occur in a slightly different order and resolve in a slightly different way to how she remembered them. At first her mind remained unconvinced, but as she continued to progress through her day to day activities she soon succumbed to the possibility that she might not be dreaming at all and everything had in fact happened in this way.
...Her abilities, well they were no longer just a smile. On the contrary they were something more, something much darker and direct, and a touch more uncomfortable. She certainly smiled, as one might expect from the embodiment of optimism, but the moment that she did she found that those she faced were drained. What confidence they had felt was lost, and in their stead it seemed the allies she stood beside were bolstered. Though no wounds were sealed, those they now faced appeared to simply give up in the face of such an obstacle.
And then she saw them.
White bodices and bows, lips parted in concern. Senshi.
"What?"
It was enough of a juxtaposition from reality that she started, snorting audibly as her eyes opened to be met with a now star spattered sky. No meteor rain in sight, it seemed that the display was over and she was very much on her own amidst the long grass. There was no one to judge her and what she'd seen in her dream, or how she'd felt in it. In those moments when she'd done more than just smile she felt something well up within her and now she sat with a lump in her throat and a pain in her chest.
She'd never wanted anyone to feel bad and clearly that was just a dream, so why did she feel so guilty?
She sat up and released a sigh, peering out towards the city that lay below her, but just far enough away to avoid harming the lightshow that had taken place above her head. Arthur had warned her about the Negaverse when she had first awakened, warned her that they offered power. For weeks she had been trapped in a loop, incapable of appreciating the abilities she had been gifted when he had presented her with her want and now she could see where some might succumb to the temptation. Surely she wouldn't want it if it was offered, so why had she immediately experienced that search of warmth and delight when she had in that dream.
Perhaps it was the age old cliche that pursued her into the depths of her dreams which were often riddled with tropes and predictability. With great power came great responsibility, and for some, power was even inclined to corrupt regardless of how much they may have had. A smile might have been all she was entitled to in this world, perhaps the planet she came from knew better than to afford her more than that (at least for now).
Taking another deep breath she gazed skyward once more and shook her head; she'd have to better herself somehow, and fixating on her magic smile wasn't it. Food for thought, but an answer she wasn't going to get this evening no matter how hard she stared at the sky.
With this in mind she rose to her feet and gathered her bag to her side, she had things to do before everything closed this evening and she'd never been one to wallow. She'd figure it out later, when something or someone happened to inspire an ephipany within her.
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