[R] Ripples (Lacerta x Chalcanthite)

[tefla]

It was on nights like these that Lacerta often found herself reflecting on just how much she had changed in the course of a few years. Her thoughts turned introspective even as she set loose another wraith from her crystal shard out in search of the energy that was needed to help the court thrive. There was no point in tracking the creature as it'd find its own way back to her and so Lacerta was left alone with her thoughts. Ever since she'd come back out of the mirror as her eternal self there was a certain comfortableness that she had been experiencing. It was almost like she had finally settled into a routine. During the day she would either help out at Jett's auction business or if it was a day off, she could be helping out at The Farmer's Daughter. And yet there were still days where she was busy working with her bees to ensure that her hives continued to thrive.

The loss of one hive to that weird universe of rifts had been hard to compensate for but she was slowly getting used to working with less bees. But during the night she was out doing what needed to be done. As a new eternal dark mirror she would also be on the hunt for those that could possibly be needing a hand reached out in friendship. Or possibly keeping an eye out on those that could have the potential to awaken into more Dark Mirror senshi. Whatever the case was ... Lacerta was happily where she believed that she belonged the best.

For now the Eternal senshi stood waiting for her wraith to return to her. Auras of order and chaos both registered on her mind but she paid no heed to them. Instead she situated herself on a low retaining wall before glancing towards the sky. Time was long ago that she might have been excited to see what her homeworld would have held in store but now it meant nothing to dwell on things that could never be. It was just one more loss that had accrued over time. Yet so much had also been gained ... so was her life balanced out or not?

Sara Draconia

 

[tefla]

When the latest wraith to return came back with the unmistakable chaos aura trailing it Lacerta stiffened. She really wasn't much looking towards a confrontation if the owner of said aura wasn't another fellow dark mirror. All in all most of those that she'd met from the Negaverse weren't prone to fights either. Though there had been some that harboured ill will towards their much smaller group. Figuring that the least she could do was appear non-threatening and to that regard she pocketed her mirror shard as soon as the wraith had disappeared back into it. Situating herself to face the direction in which she believed the owner of the aura would appear did the redhead sit back and wait. And she didn't have long to wait when Chalcanthite strolled into view.

Raising her hand in a silent response to Chal's words did she give the agent a glancing over before she shifted her position to allow the other a space to join her on the retaining wall if he chose to do so.

"It's been a while since we've last run into each other. I'm glad to see that you are doing alright," and here she paused to take in his demeanour. The general seemed almost wan if she had to choose an apt descriptor. Softly she asked, "you are alright? Aren't you?"

Sara Draconia

 

[tefla]

Lacerta listened with interest as Chalcanthite spoke about how he was faring. There was something that spoke of connection that they shared that she guessed allowed Chal to feel safe about talking about what was going on in his personal life it seemed. For that Lacerta felt that maybe it was only fair that she offered up a little bit of what she was currently wrestling with in return. The moment in which she could offer up a little bit of what was going on with came up did Lacerta sigh before staring out into the distance for a moment.

"You aren't wrong in thinking that this time of year can be rough on people.I would consider myself to be among those listed."

For a moment she was lost in thoughts of her parents before she sighed. "A few years ago, maybe a year before meeting you again, my folks were attacked by a member of your organization. I never did find out who it was, it all happened too fast and I was unable to stop it. I was still in the ranks of the White Moon back then but I had already been upgraded to a super senshi. Long story short ... since I had no idea on who I was trying to track down to get stolen starseeds back ... my folks ended up passing on. I didn't have anyone else to rely on so I went to the only person who I knew that had offered me a place to belong. She gave me the chance to find a new family ... one within the court of the Dark Mirror."

Talking about her folks still stung so Lacerta wasn't surprised to feel tears forming and then falling down her cheek as she trailed off. She hastily drew a hand across each eye before sniffing softly.

"I've been okay for the most part. There was some big hullabaloo over the summer that had both sides, Order and Chaos, fighting against a, I dunno, slime monster of some sort that was my first real test as an eternal senshi for the team I'm batting for. Other than that I think the only other time I got a little confused was with a battle just after I corrupted. I happened to see a familiar face that I once had an encounter with and it jarred me a little. It'd probably be like how you reacted when you found me on that rooftop as a dark mirror senshi."

Sara Draconia

 

[tefla]

Lacerta's gaze softened a little at Chal's words of condolences for the loss of her parents. She gave a small sigh in response before speaking, "I appreciate at least someone has enough sense to offer condolences. I sometimes just don't understand why things happened the way they did. I mean I know they weren't targeted specifically for being my folks but it didn't have to end like that. I don't know, at least I didn't have to fake my own death anymore. I would have had to, you know, had they still been alive when I chose to corrupt. Because even before the incident ... I was planning to switch over to the dark mirror."

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts after talking about her folks Lacerta listened to why Chalcanthite might have missed the battle in the subway before she gave the smallest sound of amusement. She had called it a slime monster at first but something about how Chal had phrased the words brought a smile to her face, "Well to be honest I don't think anyone expected to find a slime monster in the subway. I just thought it looked like slime, it could have been something different. Near the end of the battle thought it seemed as if a new princess was revealed on the White Moon side though. That was an interesting thing to experience .. albeit a little concerning. Because one doesn't really know what might happen after such a reveal. Turns out that she wasn't really focused on harming anyone with chaos in them and instead took all of the white moon allies with her someplace after the battle was over."

Was she being too chatty? Lacerta wasn't overly sure but she was trying to seriously catch up with Chal. Hearing that he planned to stick around was reassuring as she could at least count on one familiar face from her past to be able to count on, right? It was something different for sure. "I hope that you are less of a stranger as well. I don't think there's anyone else on your side that I feel comfortable enough to chat freely with."

Sara Draconia

 

[tefla]

Lacerta was noticing how Chalcanthite was fidgeting and she gently reached over and with a small sound that could have been labelled as sympathetic, gently placed one hand over his fidgeting ones. Hopefully it wouldn't be seen as an overreach on her part but she wasn't one hundred percent sure even why she made the overture in the first place. It just seemed like it was the correct thing to do ... to make it concrete to Chal that she wasn't going to go anywhere. Her hand remained over Chal's for about a minute before she gently brought it back to rest at her side.

"I can only imagine how much of a toll this is taking though for you," and Lacerta here sighed before continuing, "I'll admit freely that I probably wouldn't have had that same mental fortitude a while back when I still wore white. Being as I am now though, I'm finding that there's a lot of inner strength that one can possess if they just reach deep inside and channel it."

Okay, so that last part might have been a bit of a stretch but Lacerta believed it to be mostly true, so why couldn't she admit as much. "I think it helps when you have family to surround yourself with. It makes this whole "powered life" bearable."

Sara Draconia