Welcome to Gaia! ::

On the roof of one of the buildings by the river, Scylla sat alone, her head tilted back and tattoos glowing softly in the darkness. To her, Destiny City summers always seemed to feel ridiculously hot. Thank goodness for magic- DC was not as hot as if she lived in one of those horrible Southern states, but still enough to frequently be uncomfortable. If these climate-controlled magical suits weren’t so awesome, the Eternal would probably be sweating up a storm and unseasonably miserable. And as bonus sweat prevention, she was in one of her favorite places. The river always had a nice breeze to stir the air and take care of some of the remnants of discomfort.

Bright purple eyes drifted slowly shut, the senshi carefully pushing her attention out and away. Reaching out with her senses- the smell of thick, rich brine; the sensation of other powered auras tickling the edge of her awareness and then retreating as they sensed her. It was relatively quiet tonight- there were only a small number of ships coming by this location at such a late hour, so there was only the sound of waves slapping against the docks, wind whistling through the cargo containers settled down below, the occasional clink of a door, and car keys, and the hum of an engine as an employee made their way home.

There was music coming from somewhere, and Scylla felt her shoulders start to relax into it. She couldn’t make out the words, but the voice had a familiar lilt, an almost masculine timbre. She had to know the band, but somehow she couldn’t quite place it. Her heel tapped against the edge of the building, her spine starting to sway to the familiar tune- almost familiar enough that she could hum along with it, but the words. She needed to get closer, Scylla decided, and let her body slip off the building, falling to the ground below. Her power flared, tentacles reaching up to catch her at her whispered command, and the Senshi of the Kraken moved away, leaving crumpled cement to smooth back into place as if the magic had never been summoned at all.

It was almost impossible to determine what direction the sound was coming from; she would take a step in one direction and the tune would fade in and out like a shadow, tempting and teasing her with its familiarity. Her heels clicked on the cement, her steps subconsciously adopting the rhythm of the tune, until she felt like she was almost dancing across the cement. Finally she found a path where the music seemed to rise, becoming more audible to her ears; Scylla followed after it wordlessly, letting the song tug on her heartstrings. The voice, which had started so sweet, was rising into a wail, becoming disjointed and mournful. There was loss, here. Loneliness, and something missing. Someone missing?

It took her breath away, made her pause, reach out her hand to touch something, to ground herself. The black-haired senshi was startled to find that it was a tree- was this the park? Already? A smile drifted across her lips at the sight of several star charms dangling from a branch, and she reached out to clutch at one of them, the smile growing painful as the song crescendoed in her ears. Her hand reached up, to clutch at the necklace around her neck, her fingers wrapping tightly around the blue gem embedded there. Something about the song was crushing her; it was desperate, hungry longing, it was hands wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her close, it was fingers digging into the back of her neck and clutching her tightly- a head dropping onto her own-

And it was nothing. The loss was sudden and staggering, and she fell to her knees in soil wet from summer rain. She peeled her fingers from her own shoulders, where her arms had tightly crossed over her chest, and she leaned back against a familiar fallen log, shaken, clutching a small ribbon to her chest.