[r] Reunions [Solaris/Realta/Metis/Athalia]

[Kaefaux]

Backdated to 12.12.21


It'd just been... an itch at the back of her mind. A need to move, and keep moving. Though she hadn't the foggiest idea of why. She'd pulled Metis out of the house with her, leaving Raja to sleep on the couch she'd effectively taken over in their visits to Nami and Orias' place. Realta hadn't objected when in the recent weeks Lilith had begun to spend more time over there under the guise of checking up on them. She often had food delivered from high-end, sometimes rather exclusive dining experiences that she figured Namielle would enjoy, happy to share some of the luxuries her bank account could offer, especially since she wasn't sure what their food situation looked like, otherwise. Since December hit, Lilith had begun to take it upon herself to put up holiday decorations. Mostly, again, as an excuse to spend time there.

Each time she heard from the cats that they still hadn't heard anything, Realta saw the way Lilith's shoulders would slump, or her eyes would close for a while. It was part of why Realta pestered her to go on a patrol with her that night.

"You need to get out for a bit, it won't harm anything," she'd huffed at the young woman who was carefully placing down a festive, pine garland embroidered white table cloth. Red and gold ornaments glittered in their shimmering threads. She was ignored for a moment, watching with annoyance as Lilith set up a simple small wreath and a large glass jar within it as a center piece, filling the jar with fragrant pine branches and real, tiny ornaments mimicking the table cloth. Realta let out a sigh. The personal shopper had at least done a good job at helping Lilith find decorations that suited the theme she wanted. Holiday, not religious. Not overly expensive, but still tasteful.

"You can put up more decorations after. We can use the pause to make sure Orias' machines don't mess up what you've already put up," she offered, teasing a bit as she hopped up onto one of the chairs.

Finally, Lilith gave a heavy sigh, rubbing at her forehead a bit. "Alright, alright... If these aren't still in place, or at least still unbroken, when I get back, I'll be having some words with you, Orias," she said with a raised voice, scowling a bit at the idea of the decorations being tossed about or pulled down.

She motioned for Realta to lead the way, and the Savannah beamed, doing just that as she bolted out of the house. Once Metis powered up, they were off, hitting the rooftops and heading... well.

Neither were sure where.

It ended up being a park, one of many, one with plenty of pine trees still full of greenery. The snow was deep, but manageable, if they stuck mostly to the paths. Realta was grateful for her long legs, even as she had to bounce from spot to spot in the snow.

When they'd first entered the park, both had perked up, feeling a sudden ping of an Order energy signature in their minds. Metis had brought out her phone, and the digital voice read out, Basic Senshi. Identity Unknown. Someone not registered in her phone. So, they'd headed in the direction, figuring meeting with someone wouldn't be a bad thing that night. The n** in the air had Metis at least happy for all her layers. Even if she had to lift up her skirts to carefully tread through the snow in spots.

It was Metis whose pace began to slow first, when they spotted the figure. She'd been startled, freezing for a moment before letting out a whoosh of an exhale. "They're in among the trees. It looks like... little animals are there, too?" She frowned a bit, seeing the small yellow blobs near the copper and silver figure. They were standing by some of the trees, but seemed to turn--she figured towards them, hearing the crunch of snow under at least Metis' boots. She lifted a gloved hand, waving gently towards them. But something seemed... off about their silhouette.

"Aren't you cold out there?" Realta called out, bouncing through the snow towards the senshi. She could see the girl now, and her uniform didn't cover a lot of skin. Skin that glistened under the moonlight. She watched as small, white rabbits began to scatter, and the senshi began to make her way towards them, wobbling a bit in the snow. "Now how did you get out there? Where are your tracks," the Mauvian huffed, looking around for some to meet the girl easier if she could move in her already made footsteps.

None broke the pristine blanket of snow.

"R-Realta?"

The Mauvian paused, a good distance ahead of Metis who was picking her way over carefully. Now, Realta could see the brunette and her wide eyes, red-rimmed and cheeks flushed from crying. The senshi's face seemed suddenly to pale, staring at her, repeating her name... before the girl tried to race forward through the snow. It was an awkward going, and Realta realized she saw something moving behind her. She froze, bewildered as she tried to make sense of that.

"Realta!" The Mauvian jerked a bit, wide-eyed herself in confusion as the other senshi fell to her knees in the snow before her, quickly scooping the large cat up and holding her close. "You're alive, you're alive, you're alive," she heard the girl say against her fur, words stuck between sobs that made her shoulders shake as she held the cat tight. It was then that Realta could see the small pale wings that fluttered at her back before settling against her skin. Up close, she could make out the bits of skin that even glittered in the moonlight.

Behind her, she heard Metis' boots crunching through the snow. "Rail? Who is this?"

Held in the senshi's arms, listening to her cry about her being alive, Realta had no idea.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

This. ********. Snow.

For the third time the senshi had found himself ensnared in what could only be marshmallows and he was starting to suspect that Destiny City's little fairies were in cahoots with one another to make his evening miserable. Scarcely awake more than a few hours and he was already receiving the standard welcome from the city. Nevertheless, the once super senshi had at least encountered someone of use upon his return and now stood 'renewed' in a sense.

...Safe to say he wasn't convinced by the wings on his a** at this point in time but they added a little bit of extra warmth considering the amount of clothing he had lost when the Mauvian had proclaimed he had been imbued with something quite special.

Thus, it was with a disgruntled growl that he threw his hands wide and summoned his shield. An uttered snarl under his breath, scarcely audible, and the shimmering carapace coiled around his form. What came next however was a much louder roar as the man cast his hand upwards and summoned forth a rather massive swarm of beetles, shimmering as they soared into the air and swept into a cyclone around him.

"Herculean Swarm!"

He needed no further invitation once the cyclone had formed though and with all his might, he began to punch the snow. It seemed childish, trivial and might very well have been comedic if anyone could have seen him within it but after those tell tale seconds had passed the cyclone erupted and each shimmering beetle exploded, sending a shockwave outwards. It had the desired effect he was aiming for and the snow that had once surrounded him shattered, the rest thrown in to large snow drifts at the very edge of where he had summoned his swarm.

A 'hmph' of satisfaction followed as he gazed at his handiwork and the cleared path before him.

Good, a way forward, and a way home.

Except it seemed like a way 'home' wasn't set to happen just yet, for as he stepped forward he sensed the familiar twinged of his own kind nearby. Not one, but three, and when there were several that normally meant that there might be trouble. He closed his eyes briefly, heaved a weighted sigh, and began to stride towards the energy signals.

It didn't take him long to reach it, his height afforded him some benefits at least. However when he did finally reach the top of the small hill, he hadn't anticipated that he would encounter a very familiar pair of faces. Evidently this evening was one for reunions as he'd met several he knew already, though he wasn't entirely sure he was mentally prepared for this one.

Nevertheless as he took in the scene he did have to pause for a brief moment -

"Are those wings?" he asked incredulously. Just how messed up was his head after that fight that he was hallucinating wings as well?

Kaefaux

 

[Kaefaux]

Somewhere, not too too far away, something roared, and that made Realta's ears perk up. Metis also frowned, looking off in the direction she thought she heard something from. The senshi holding Realta was too caught up in her own revelations to take much notice.

"I can't believe it, how are you alive, Mauvians don't live that long, do they?" She sniffed and lifted her head, staring at the one in her arms as Realta's ears flicked about before pearl eyes stared back at her.

"I... am unsure, to be honest," she said slowly, blinking somewhat as she tried to remember the face in front of her. Nothing but a haze came up, which didn't make much sense. But... wait. Don't live that long, do they?

"Dear, I'm sorry... how long are you... referring to..?" Her eyes widened a bit as she watched the senshi's brow furrow, then a look of dismay seemed to come over her.

It was then Metis began to approach, folding her hands in front of her skirts as she frowned. "Do you... know Realta?" Her voice was gentle, the other girl's crying making her unsure about the situation here. None of them seemed to be sure what was going on, though.

"I-I... yes. Or. I did." Blue eyes flicked between the Mauvian she held, and the woman before her with a blindfold on. "She... she woke me up... as a senshi, I mean. You... don't you remember me, Realta?" The pleading look she directed back at the cat made the Mauvian's ears droop.

She'd little time to answer before more crunching in the snow caught their attention. Another senshi energy signature, another Eternal, made her peer over the girl's shoulder, having to force her gaze past the wings.

Metis straightened from where she'd crouched slightly, staring beyond them at the copper-silver figure that began to approach. Behind the blindfold, her eyes widened, already beginning to tread through the snow to step around the girl towards him. "You're--"

His voice confirmed to them to who it was, though the girl holding Realta flinched at his words, those same wings fluffing up a bit. "Yes, they are. Is that a problem? I'm a Solarian, we all have them," she stated with a slightly stiff voice, defensive.

Metis froze, somewhat standing beside the kneeling girl who had turned slightly to frown at Athalia. "A... a what?" She wanted to go run over to Athalia, and either... hug him, hit him. Something. She wasn't sure what yet. He was just there. And an Eternal. And his energy signature was brighter and...

And now this senshi with wings called herself a... a... Solarian? What?
 

[Epine de Rose]

"Well, given that we are all seeing these wings," he motioned to Solaris with a delicate wave of his hand. "I am comforted in the knowledge that I haven't completely lost my sanity," he added. After all, if Realta and Metis could see them, and the winged senshi was also confirming they existed, then it had to be real right?

Either that or he was on an amazing trip.

Nevertheless, confirmation that he wasn't hallucinating placed to one side for a moment, He now had to come to terms with the fact that he was actually seeing something that had wings. Aliens were no longer a foreign concept to him, he'd seen a Velencian after all, but the fact that there might be more of them and they were all popping up like daisies led to more questions than answers.

"Not a problem," he added smoothly with a shake of his head. "But categorically not something we have as standard here and the vast majority of people are going to be very confused to see them," he finished before offering a wry smile towards both Metis and Realta.

Something told him that he wouldn't be allowed to sleep properly within the next few hours, if only because there was one specific woman who deserved more than a brief explanation of where he'd been.

A pause.

A moment to slide his thumbs into his belt and he glanced back towards Solaris for a brief instant, and then back to Metis and Realta.

"You're going to have to fill in the gaps here for me because I feel like I've missed about ten years of my life and the last Mauvian I met confirmed I'd only been knocked out for three months," he said at last and shook his head. His expression was one of a man most assuredly lost, but not entirely capable of injecting humour into the situation to cut a little bit of the tension in the air.

Kaefaux

 

[Kaefaux]

Solaris wasn't entirely sure why he figured he would have lost his sanity just because she had wings, but remained silent for a moment, looking up at the woman with the blindfold who seemed especially startled by the fact she could identify what she was. "A.... Solarian," she repeated simply, blinking owlishly up at her.

When the man clarified wings were not a typical feature around her, her nose scrunched slightly. "I mean, I figured. None of you have any. But haven't you seen people that aren't... well, like yours? I mean, besides Mauvians." Her brows furrowed now. It'd been about a thousand years, according to her tick marks, since she'd been able to get off of her world. Or that any of them could leave Solaris. Communications had gone dead around then, too.

Hearing the guy was also a bit lost made her settle a bit more, lowering Realta down to sit in her lap. "Um... I might. Also need some explanations, if that's okay. I'm Sailor Solaris, by the way. Um.... what world is this?"

Metis felt like her head was spinning. Athalia was back. He was back. After three months of silence, he was back. And now, so was... a... Solarian. Sailor Solaris. The Eternal blinked a few times. Solaris... a... Solarian? "I think we're all needing some explanations," she sighed after a few breaths to try and collect herself. Her head turned, taking in Athalia, then Solaris and Realta.

Slowly, she offered a slight smile to Athalia. "Did... that Mauvian tell you about what's happened? I'll admit, we... might need to discuss all of that once we can sit down for a bit. You've... missed a lot." She ran a hand through her bangs, letting out a breath. "I'm not sure what's going on right now, though," she sighed, looking back to Solaris.

"I'm Sailor Metis. You... already seem to know Realta. This is Sailor Athalia," she added for each, gesturing to the man in question. "You're... you're on the planet Earth. Do you know where that is?"

Solaris blinked a few times, eyes wide. "Oh... wow, Earth? Um. Yes, I do. Sort of. My memory's... kinda hazy on it. Um. That's in the Sol system, isn't it?" Her head tilted, frowning more at the two senshi. "So... wait. Why are you here? Did you get pulled here, too? Where's Sailor Earth?" Not that she could recall ever meeting or even hearing about a Sailor Earth before, but surely if the world was alive, it's senshi had to be, too, right? All worlds had senshi, didn't they?

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"Blue-faced-know-it-all didn't successfully destroy Chaos like he said he would," Athalia summarised what he did know in a single sentence and gave a wave of his hand. He didn't seem surprised or annoyed by this fact, it was almost as though he had expected failure. When it came to idealistic nonsense it very rarely paid off, and when it did, the cost was usually significantly higher than those who bought into it were ready for.

"His weapon blew up, he hurt a lot of individuals, corrupted several others," he continued to check off and raised both eyebrows. "So arguably not the greatest of successes and a considerable amount of collateral damage," he added and gave a curt shake of his head. He still assumed that what he had seen on Athalia when he woke up had been a hallucination, a remnant of the flashes of past and present that had been thrown about in his mind while he had been 'dead' for want of a better word.

Asleep?

Maybe asleep was better, though he certainly didn't feel rested.

"And that question is becoming more and more common, that's the second time I've been asked it already," he muttered. "He or she isn't here, if they do exist then they're being rather quiet about their existence," he replied. He didn't mean to be as blunt as he was, but he was long past pretending things were ok and they all lived in a fairy tale. The idealists could do whatever they pleased and wallow in misery every time they failed, but he would at least make the realities known to those who asked. After all, they deserved to know the truth and not be misled by someone with a 'dream'.

"We were also born here, the worlds we protect aren't habitable," he shrugged. "I'm human, as is Metis. Up until three months ago aliens very much did not exist," he murmured. "Or rather they had never visited," he corrected himself.

"Every senshi you meet on this planet was born here. The planets that call to us were once our homes, quite some time ago, in a very different life."

He pursed his lips thoughtfully and glanced at Realta.

"If I had to make a guess, the reason she doesn't remember you is for the same reason Namielle can't remember how half the things in her 'headquarters' work," he continued. "The memories are damaged, blocked, missing; I don't know, take your pick in regards to whichever term is the most appropriate for you," he offered. Without Namielle there to offer her own input it wouldn't be appropriate to speak for her, and Realta was right there, she could speak if she wanted to.

"Regardless, this is where we live, it's the only place in the galaxy that is capable of sustaining living, sentient beings."

Yep. He definitely hadn't gotten the memo that the planets were experiencing a rebirth of their own yet...

Kaefaux

 

[Kaefaux]

Metis winced. "No... no, he did not." She thought of the number of people who corrupted during that influx of Chaos. How she'd felt herself starting to fall to it. Metis' hands rose to rub at her upper arms, a chill moving through her. But, she nodded to his continued summary, confirming what he'd been told was accurate. "...that's... a very accurate summary of it all. I still wish you'd been there." The words held.... a bit more of a bite to them than she'd meant, and her lips pressed thin, nose scrunching at her own... was it anger? Misplaced, maybe, but still present. She'd been scared about what'd happened to him. In that battle-- ...would she have felt more secure if he had been? Or more afraid that he'd be injured, or worse?

Solaris' question did make her quirk a brow. She'd never met Sailor Earth, if one even was reborn yet. Athalia's response had her nodding in agreement, even if she did hear Realta sigh somewhat at his tone.

For Solaris, she was... baffled. "You're all... Earthlings? Even though you're senshi of other worlds?" She stared at Athalia as he explained, nodding slowly to show she was understanding what he was saying but.... it still was alarming.

"Aliens visited--we knew about it, I mean--some came with the Doom Tree many years ago now but... it wasn't to the extent of the Velencians and now... well. You," Metis carefully told the Solarian, correcting Athalia's statement lightly.

Solaris just... knelt there, confused. The bits about memories not existing was weird--sure, her memory had a lot of gaps, but she'd been alive for over a thousand years. It was bound to happen. That Mauvians experienced something similar was... it just felt scarier. More concerning. "You mentioned someone had a weapon, what--"

"A weapon that was meant to destroy Archideus, a comet with a lot of power according to the Commodore of the Velencians, but without a senshi or any such life connected to it." Realta was frowning where she sat, looking between the three senshi and all the snow around them. "I'm sorry to interrupt like this, but I think it'd be best if we take this conversation elsewhere... perhaps somewhere warmer and indoors?" The inflection in her words was intentional, and she could see Metis jump a little.

"Yes... right. Um, Solaris, would you be comfortable coming with us to--" She'd been about to say our place and it made her stop cold. As her cheeks went red. "--s-somewhere... we can figure out... whose place...."

Her bumbling over words did not go unnoticed by Realta who quirked a brow at her senshi, intrigued by the new color in her face that didn't seem connected to the cold.

"Sure... yeah, I think that'd be a good idea. Probably a lot for... all of us to go over still." Relinquishing Realta so she could stand up, Solaris felt... adrift. There was so much life here. And so much life that'd been living its existence, so far away from where her people and world were dying, or dead. There were names and people spoken of here she couldn't fit into her memories. Battles so, so far away from the civil wars and conflicts she'd been trying to survive and subdue to protect her people.

As she stood there within the snow on Earth, joining the two Eternals and the Mauvian, she felt every bit an alien on this world.... and in this era.

Epine de Rose

A Fin <3