Welcome to Gaia! ::

A week had passed since Markeb had followed her brother into the underground station. The central location where waves of Blight, and the Source that controlled them, threatened Destiny City. The same place where the Negaverse and White Moon aligned themselves against a common enemy and an Eternal Senshi had awakened as a Princes with power that rivaled Remarque’s.

Many things had happened that night and surely news of its events had traveled fast, but the one thing she cared about most was that for the first time her magic had actually worked. A gift given to a Corrupt in the form of a wish and rather than remaining a transparent crystal-like star, the magic cast turned a brilliant blue.

Unfortunately, the young woman was too far away for her to approach and ask what was wished and her brother’s General had been quick to teleport her, along with the rest of his team, to somewhere safe after the Princess was revealed. Although she was grateful to Rakovanite for not leaving her there to find her own way out, it did leave her with the arduous task of finding the woman or the Mauvian she had been helping.

Roughly two hours a night were spent mirror-jumping to every known location she’d been through over the last five years; dressing rooms in shopping centers, door-length mirrors in public restroom areas, to carefully placed and hidden mirrors she had securely stashed away herself.

Still nothing.

“Would be easier if we had our own Mauvians,” maybe… maybe not. In the same way she couldn’t communicate with her own brother when powered, chances are a Dark Mirror Mauvian likely wouldn’t be able to communicate with their Negaverse counterparts. Still… Vauxite was mostly useless, the only cat he knew of was Gremlin and was reluctant to ask him for help. Why? She didn’t know but her own experience with the hairless gremlin was less than cordial and even she didn’t feel inclined to ask him for help.

Each day that passed took with it a measure of excitement she had originally felt until no more than a few drops were left. It took eight months to find her brother but Markeb knew she didn’t have that kind of stamina left to find someone whose name she didn’t even know.

Markeb took a seat on an open swing set and swung lazily. “It’d be nice if I had some help,” but her brother was only a Lieutenant and couldn’t teleport and even if he could, Vauxite had no idea who he’d be looking for.

Markeb was not so lost in thought to have missed the sudden signature that flared up nearby. Six years later, and two telescopes destroyed, had taught her the value of remaining aware of her surroundings even when her mind was otherwise preoccupied with other thoughts.

If it was Order, she might have gotten up and found her way over to the mirror she had last jumped through to find another place to sit peacefully but the one she felt was distinctly Dark Mirror, and an Eternal at that. She’d been to her fair share of Court gatherings to at least identify her own even if she knew next to none of them by name let alone face.

When the signature disappeared, Markeb had assumed that they had powered down for the evening and decided to head home since it was late. But then it appeared again near the mirror she used and the voice she heard was surprisingly familiar. “Remarque,” she regarded him with a nod. Her wraith floated behind her unassumingly and disturbingly transparent. At least it fit the season with Halloween only a few weeks away.

“I’ve been trying to find someone but haven’t had much success.” Story of her life this past year, if not looking for her brother then the face of some stranger who she only had a vague description of or a blue-striped Mauvian which was only a little more help.

On the one hand, Markeb felt reluctant to burden him with trying to find someone she didn’t even know their name and only had a vague description of. On the other, he probably had more access to a larger network of mirrors than she did. The only ones she was aware of were the ones she placed herself or if someone had taken her through one, which would have been a long while ago at this point.

“I’m looking for either a corrupt with long brown hair and dark skin with little white flowers on her uniform. She's just a basic senshi like I am.” At least she assumed so, hard to tell when there were so many signatures gathered in one area whose aura belonged to each individual. “If not her, then a mauvian with blue fur.”

“You haven’t seen someone that matches either description recently have you?”

“It’s taken almost seven years now but someone was finally able to wish for something that made my magic work.” At least she assumed it did since for the first time in all her years of trying, the little star she created actually changed color, “I don’t know what she wished for or what benefit she got from it.”

Markeb spoke the name of her magic and in both hands appeared two crystal-looking stars. It had been so long since she had spoken to Remarque one-on-one that she couldn’t recall if she had ever shown them to him. “They’ve only remained this color for me but I watched them turn blue in her hands.”

“You’ve probably already been filled in on the incident that happened last week in the underground station. The waves of Blight that were attacking and the new White Moon princess who appeared.” At least the woman was new to her which ultimately wasn’t saying much since Markeb was a bit of a recluse, utilizing mirrors for quick travel instead of performing any duty or obligation to the Dark Mirror Court that was mentioned to her when she initially stepped through the black mirror and became one of them. “Someone had broadcasted a plea for help and a few other Dark Mirror had shown up.” None of whom she recognized though.

“I was there with my brother and his team who had teleported me away from the fight shortly after the Princess appeared which is why I wasn’t able to ask her what she’d wished for.” A shame because the longer it took to find her the more likely it would be that the corrupt forgot. “That’s why I need to find at least one of them.”

The fact he had at least sensed a Mauvian in the area boded well and she wished upon every star in the sky that it was the one she was looking for.

Honestly, Markeb had to wonder- if the Dark Mirror had a mauvian of their own and didn’t need to rely on the chaos cats that belonged to the Negaverse for their pens and whatever… Would it have taken her this long to understand the mechanics of her magic? All she had been given was her name, the name of her magic and that was it; probably because they didn’t have any reason to invest time or energy into the Court when they had their own Corrupts to guide.

Other questions often came to mind but now was probably not the time to ask them. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth and instead focus her energy, and thoughts, on finding this mauvian.

“Yes please,” Markeb replied. “I’d appreciate the help.”

Even if this wasn’t the guardian cat she was looking for, hopefully they at least knew who he, or she, was. There couldn’t possibly be that many blue and black striped mauvians walking around.

“Think of me as a genie with a few provisos and a couple quid pro quo’s,” Markeb chuckled at her own Genie reference from Aladdin as she let go of his hand. “Actually- the list is so long of what you can’t ask for that not even I know what’s all on it.” Hopefully, in a day or so she’d finally get some answers. For now, the first step was to have a conversation with the Mauvian they sensed nearby.

A sudden wave of nervousness washed through her. “Umm-” her hands moved to fidget with the transparent blue overlay part of her uniform. “I think it’d be best if I walk over there alone. I don’t want them to run away because they feel outnumbered.” Even though their auras shared a similar nature, there was still a distinct enough difference between a Dark Mirror and Corrupted senshi.

“I’ve been searching for almost two weeks for a Mauvian or the girl with white flowers on her uniform. If I mess this up then I might never know what my magic does or how to activate it properly.” She’d already spent years feeling useless, any longer and she might as well hand him her henshin pen and never power up again. “I’d appreciate it if you’d wait here a few minutes, please. But if you have somewhere else to be I won’t be upset if you need to leave.” A family perhaps or another Dark Mirror senshi to check up on maybe.

“Thank you,” Markeb’s gaze fell to the ground between them as her nerves twisted themselves into something of a lead-weighted ball that fell in the pit of her stomach. She worried the hem of her transparent overlay, running her thumb over the textured fabric as if it’d bring her some comfort or courage. “I’ll be just a few minutes then.”

She nodded, more so to convince herself to move than to assure him she’d not be gone long.

How many times had she sat outside either on a building’s ledge, at a park, or some open field while stargazing, just idly using her magic to figure out what kinds of wishes were valid until eventually she’d given up and instead relied on rocks or whatever she could get her hands on to defend herself with. The stars she summoned would always remain a transparent color, even when Sadalsuud had helped her, the things remained unchanged.

That changed, however, when that corrupt had wished for something to cause it to change to a blueish color.

“I need to know.” She drew in a deep breath to settle her nerves and cautiously approached the Mauvian.

True to her word, Markeb was only gone for maybe seven minutes before returning to Remarque, her expression a mix of worry and disappointment. “She knows the corrupt I’m looking for and will ask if she will meet me. Not tonight though.” Which was perhaps why she looked, to a degree, defeated. But it would be rude to ask someone to come all this way out here just to ask a few questions especially since the person she was looking for could not teleport yet, at least that’s what the Mauvian had hinted at.

“I’ll come back here in two days and if she shows then I’ll have my answer. If not…” back to square one. A part of her wanted to ask Remarque if he’d come back with her, but she already felt like she was imposing on his time as is.

If she knew then what she hoped to learn in a couple of days, then perhaps she would have become an Eternal by now. But feeling like she was somehow broken because her magic didn’t function in any useful way led her to be inactive save for mirror walking to safe places to stargaze on cloudless nights.

But after finding out her brother was a Negaverse Agent, she did not want to fall any further behind since he was likely to achieve General before she earned her own feathered black wings.

“Thank you, I appreciate you coming with me this evening.” Although a bit awkward in the dim light, Markeb attempted a smile. “I’ll let you know what I find out.” Hopefully, it would be good news filled with answers or at least a solid theory to attempt.

However, there was still that seed of doubt and worry that kept the optimism at bay. What if they didn’t show? Or what if too much time had lapsed and the Corrupt didn’t remember what she was thinking when the star ended up in her hands?

What if-

Markeb shook her head to banish the thought quickly leading her down a rabbit hole she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find her way out of. “I’m sorry I kept you out so late.” Surely he had other business to attend to or family. As a prince of their court, Remarque had better things to do with his time than chauffeur her through mirrors or babysit her while she talked to Mauvians.

She glanced back at the mirror they’d arrived through. “I should be able to get home from here.” Even though she was not permitted access to Mirrorspace without an invitation or escort, at least there was a thin silver lining in that she was able to fast travel to places clear across the city. “I hope you have a good evening. Please take care.” Markeb bowed her head as one would do before a dance began and waved as she retreated back to the mirror and from there home.

Just two days… I can wait that long- I think…