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 Posted: Fri May 27, 2022 8:02 pm
Monoceros had had a really jam-packed week. There'd been a lot of ups (and downs!), but mostly ups. Things were all swinging in his favor. He was actually gaining credit in the Negaverse as a competent Senshi, and he loved it. He wanted very much to keep pleasing Ashanite, and so here he was, at the meeting spot he'd agreed on with Lysithea what seemed like forever ago. He wanted to be triumphant, bring her back in a blaze of glory, and he would be hopefully recognized for his actions here. He wanted very badly to be told he was doing well, instead of feeling like he was dragging the Negaverse down even though he had been doing a lot better recently. So when he felt the Order aura by itself, he grinned to himself and perked up, looking for her. Good. So it wasn't an ambush. That was a relief. He'd only thought about it far too late to do anything about it. God, he was so excited.
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2022 3:51 pm
Lysithea had everything settled, or at least she thought that she did. Rosie was stuffed into the suitcase, though she only got in it a few minutes ago to minimize as much discomfort as she could. But there was the feeling of Monoceros, and she drew in a breath before plastering a smile on her face and waving as she saw him. “Hi. You’re here…I was…I was a little worried that you wouldn’t show up…but.”
She hurried over, giving a silent apology as the wheel of the suitcase hit a small rock and jostled.
“I’m here too, obviously.”
The food Evan had made was in her backpack, and she hesitated before rocking back on her heels. “So…can you give me a little run down of what’s expected of me now?”
She couldn’t just grab him…he would suspect, so instead she gently summoned her senshi phone to her free hand and making sure to keep it hidden. “Obviously I don’t…remember the last time this all happened.”
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2022 6:38 pm
Monoceros smiled back, giving her a return wave and moving closer. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss this," he affirmed, "Things are finally starting to go right for me again. It's nice." He stepped forward a little more, shuffling a bit and reaching for her hand. "I can teleport you back to the Negaverse," he said gently, "And Ashanite will meet us. He's amazing. He's super cool and he'll help you with everything. All we want is for you to come home. We'll figure out the details as we go. If you accept it instead of fight it... you won't have to deal with the things I did."
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2022 8:43 pm
Lysithea blew out a breath and nodded slowly, moving forward and throwing her arm around Monoceros in a hug instead, keeping a tight hold on the suitcase. “Thank you.” She whispered, nuzzling against him and feeling a strange…guilt for what she was about to do. He was trusting her. He was trusting her and here she was, pressing hard on the home button on her phone and praying that they would get up to her planet before he could teleport them both to the Negaverse.
Thankfully, as she saw the pale lavender grasses and soft pastel trees, she knew they were safe.
“...I…would accept it, you know…if. If I was actually planning on going through with it, Monoceros…but I’ve learned about you. You were a part of my court…my family...and something’s gone wrong…”
She slid the handle back into the suitcase, the signal for Ilse to transform and come to help, and watched the other senshi with a cautious gaze. “...This is Lysithea…my Homeworld…you helped us save a youma here…not that I remember, but they told me about it.”
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 2:46 am
Being curled up in a suitcase was not, per se, the most comfortable thing Ilse had ever experienced. But that was okay--she had to do it, because they were going to protect Monoceros and make sure that whatever had been done to him by the Negaverse, it got undone.
It sounded, to her, like maybe someone had done to him what they'd done to her--tried to make him into an obedient little tool. And that was just not okay.
So she waited until she got the signal, and then she powered up inside Lysithea's suitcase, and tumbled out of it--which was a little undignified, but that was okay. She bounced to her feet, holding up her hands.
"Don't be scared, please. We're here to help."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 4:17 pm
Monoceros let her hug him and he leaned into it a little bit, enjoying the affection. This was so nice. He took a deep breath in, preparing to teleport the two of them away, when something else happened. And he was teleported somewhere else, instead. His jaw dropped open as he took in the beautiful surroundings, but then he realized what it meant. When Lysithea started talking. And then Ilse popped out of the suitcase, and for a fraction of a second, Monoceros admired her flexibility, but then he realized anew what was going on. He had been ambushed, after all. And now he'd been kidnapped. Monoceros snarled at them, eyes flashing as he leapt back, away from the two of them, and flexed his hand outward, flicking between the two of them. "Quill Flash!" The words court and family rang out in his mind, but he didn't care. Couldn't care. Saved a youma? Hah. Mindless creatures that lived to serve the Negaverse. They weren't anything. Certainly not people. He'd been kidnapped, and he'd have to figure out how to get home. He wondered... if taking Lysithea's starseed would strand him or boot him home. But he'd have to get through Ilse, it seemed, to be able to do that. Quote: A burst of porcupine quills flies from Sailor Monoceros's hand, which can cause shallow scratches and/or minor puncture wounds. Any attempt to remove the quills before they vanish will cause sharp, pinpointed pain in the area; however, they don't sink in much deeper than skin-level. A user can choose to have this attack cause permanent damage or the injury will fade when the magic expires. This attack will last 20 seconds and can be used three times per battle.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2022 7:21 pm
Lysithea grimaced, unhappy that the first thing he had thought to do was attack. She couldn't blame him, of course. It must be terrifying. Being brought somewhere against your will, against what you thought was going to happen but.
Still. Violence from the outset wasn’t…quite what she had wanted, and Lysithea moved swiftly in front of Ilse, her arms moving up to protect her face and getting filled with the stupid painful magic once again. This was fine. Ilse couldn’t be hurt. She was the one who actually had magic to use against him.
“Monoceros, it’s okay, I promise it’s going to be okay. We want to talk with you. I brought food! I want you to be okay. More than anything. We want to be friends.”
She glanced at Ilse for a moment and gave a little nod, hoping that the senshi would attack him. If they could free him from…whatever. Whatever they had done to him…
Hopefully the talking would be a lot easier.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 7:04 pm
Ilse yelped, and jumped backwards, expecting the agony of whatever attack Monoceros was throwing to hit her, and hit her hard.
...It didn't, and she opened her eyes to see Lysithea standing in front of her. Keeping her safe. Her heart did a little flip, and she had to shove it down, because yes, it was nice, and yes, it made her feel all sorts of bubbly romantic feelings, but not! The! Time!
Lysithea's little nod spurred her into action.
"I'm sorry," she said. "This is probably going to suck--but I promise, we really do want to help you."
Michel's magic had helped her. Maybe hers would help Monoceros.
"Unattainable Desire!" She called, blowing a kiss and watching the petals swirl up. Quote: Ilse speaks the name of her attack, and blows a kiss. In an 8-foot radius around her, there is a swirl of blue petals, and enemies within the swirl are struck by a yearning for something or someone they consider unattainable. It can be a dream, an object, a person, or anything else. At this stage, targets will also feel a tickling in their chest and an urge to cough, and if they do so, they will cough up blue petals similar to the ones Ilse creates. These effects last for 35 seconds, but after they end, targets may be struck with a lingering feeling of sadness or loss at player discretion. Ilse can use this attack twice per battle.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:05 pm
Monoceros leapt backwards at the magical attack that approached, but he was too late to react, too slow, too... stupid. The swirl of petals caught him and he coughed harshly for a few long seconds until some petals came out of him. ********. He dropped to his knees, coughing again, and desperately thinking about how much he just.... wanted parents. He didn't know who his parents were before, but it didn't matter. He wasn't their son anymore, anyway. He just. He just wanted someone to be a parent to him. He was so tired. He... was just so ******** tired. "Mom," he whimpered, eyes shutting tightly against the tears that threatened to fall, more petals coming up with more coughs, a pain in his head increasing and aching and swelling and screaming at him to get up and fight, that he couldn't serve the Negaverse this way, until the magic finally ceased and some kind of... release happened in his brain, something he didn't even know was holding him back. He stayed on the ground, though. Missing his parents. Aching for someone he couldn't remember if he ever really had or not. Having that brought to the forefront of his mind.... well, it wasn't going to just go away. God, he was pathetic. "Just kill me," he whispered. "I'm not... I... they did something to control me. They're gonna find out."
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:28 pm
That magic was strong and Lysithea knew it, but when Monoceros stayed on the ground, she let out a small breath. If it had worked, that…would be the greatest boon she could think of.
Slowly, carefully at first she took a few steps towards the corrupted senshi, and then knelt beside him, reaching and gathering him towards her. “Monoceros. It’s okay. You’re safe here. Nobody’s going to hurt you. Whatever was wrong can be fixed, and Ilse and I will see that it’s all fixed. We can save you. Bring you out of the Negaverse and back home. Everything will be all right…if you want it to be. If you let us help, we’ll be there for you.”
Her hand smoothed back his hair and she squeezed the corrupt senshi gently, carefully.
“If they were controlling you, we can help. We will help.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:47 pm
Ilse always hated seeing how her magic affected people. There were so few situations where she could imagine feeling anything but pain in her chest at the prospect. Seeing someone choke on flowers, on their own pain and yearning...it sucked.
But it was necessary.
She took a deep breath.
When he asked them to kill him, Ilse felt her heart break, and she ran over, kneeling down and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Monoceros," she said, voice soft, "They...they did the same thing to me. Changed me. Made me...made me hurt people I loved."
Her eyes flicked to Lysithea, briefly. No one had suffered more for her foolishness, she thought, than the sweet girl who had tried so hard to save her.
"But I'm safe, now. And we can save you too. You just have to want to get out."
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:52 pm
The soft, warm touches from the people who were... being so kind to him, and saving him (though they really shouldn't, he'd been so awful, and everything hurt so much), made him start crying and he leaned into Lysithea's hug, feeling... small and weak and helpless. "I'm sorry," he wheezed, "I'm so sorry, I... I never wanted... God, my head hurts. Everything that they were doing to me in there, it's so hard to think.... I don't wanna go back. But how can I? How can I stay safe?" He sniffled and wibbled, rubbing at his eyes to look up at the two women saving his life. "If I purify, I... I won't have any place to go. I'll be a whole new person, again. I don't know if I can do that. I just... I just started getting comfortable in my civilian identity, y'know? I just began making friends. I was starting to be happy. And now... now it's all messed up." But he didn't blame them. He'd rather be free than not.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 6:05 pm
“Hey, hey! It’s going to be okay. You won’t be alone. You’ll have us! You’ll have me and a whole group who used to know and love you.” Just like she did.
Normally it was such an overwhelming feeling but, now that Lysithea was faced with someone who was going through the same stuff. The same thing. The same pain...
All she could feel was comfort.
“Our home is crowded, but it’s lovely. And you have a space there. I promise that you have a space there. We want you there. It’ll take a while to get settled again…but you won’t be fighting with yourself in the process. You have us, and you won’t ever lose us, Monoceros. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Lysithea continued to play with his hair, looking down at him. “...Do you want to be free now? I can call for a friend to help. She’s the one who saved the both of us.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:51 pm
Ilse nodded, vigorously. "I know it's scary. Starting al over again. But this time--this time it'll be your choice, Monoceros." Her voice was soft. Gentle. And she gently squeezed his shoulder, leaning against his side, doing her best to be a warm, comforting bulwark against the fear of coming home.
"It'll be good, I promise." She reached down to find one of his hands, and gently wrapped it in both of hers.
If they could save one person, then Ilse thought she might be doing something right with the purification that she still wasn't always sure she had earned. But maybe that was the way of it. Maybe it wasn't what you did to get it. Maybe it was what you did with it, after.
Either way, Ilse wanted to make it count.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 8:19 pm
Monoceros looked to Lysithea, then Ilse in turn as they spoke, glancing down at the way Ilse held a hand of his between hers. He felt so.... cared for. In a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Not counting Ashanite, really, but even that... Well. No, it had been him caring in his own way. The Negaverse way. And Monoceros really, really couldn't deny the feelings that had built up for the man anymore. Still... He desperately wanted what Lysithea was offering. But... There were so many things he'd need to do, first. "I want to come back," he said slowly, looking both of them in the face, "But... I need time. I'm in a good position too, aren't I? I'm under General Ashanite. SpecOps. I could have an ear to the ground for you all while I work on getting my s**t together—uh, affairs in order. There's people I need to talk to. I don't want to just disappear on them..."
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