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 Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:20 pm
Mirrorspace was a rather interesting place, in that it seemed to have a mind of its own, and it was somewhat sentient and moved things around. It wasn’t stable and didn’t allow its senshi to store things in its realm, at least not without moving things around, it was never the same when you entered it though you wouldn’t know that since it was just white walls and white rooms and just white.
Liam had agreed to bring Aloysuis into mirrorspace though and today seemed as good a night as any. So he’d powered up already and was standing in front of a mirror they kept hidden in the back, inside a rundown little building, and was waiting for his partner to turn up. Pressing his hand on the mirror's surface he refrained from stepping inside, there would be a time for that. He’d heard from another mirror senshi that something had happened recently, he hadn’t gotten all the details though, it was one of the eternals who knew Acubens well so dropped by her business fairly often. The dark haired male knew who Liam was, just as Liam knew who they were, and they’d told him briefly that something had happened.
Liam would ask Rhona when he had time, because talking while at work had not been a good idea, the other had known to keep the talk short and just let him know something had happened. They didn’t need to suggest talking to Rhona, because he mentioned it first, he’d get ahold of her after work soon and find out what took place. It seemed like something big, considering how the other had spoken to him, and he’d like to know if there was anything to be worried about. If there was tonight he’d know it and hopefully handle it, he wasn’t an eternal but he knew mirrorspace well enough he figured.
How he’d missed something, how he hadn’t been yanked in by mirrorspace itself, was a mystery to him. The place liked to summon its own senshi when something was going on, just yank them through any available reflective surface, it was rather amusing if one didn’t mind being kidnapped by a mirror without any warning.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:21 pm
Things had been rough lately to say the least, Aloysius was still dealing with the fallout from Mel getting hurt even if she was already healed. They had yet to find the culprit which meant they were still out there running amok. He had almost fallen back into his old ways at the party Faustite had thrown as well. There had been so much alcohol there and it would have been so terribly easy to take a sip after he had been abruptly through back into his memories by Benitoite. He had needed Liam to be there for him but they kept missing each other between all of the things going on. Now he had his own Lt beneath him to worry about as well, that sinking feeling was settling in over how easily they jumped into things. He hoped the other half of that pair would be a bit more cautious.
Beni had set him back on the path he had once been on but he wanted to tread it carefully and with Liam’s support. He could not, would not let things end as he had seen so many other times before. He couldn’t run away but he also couldn’t dive into the flow of battle the way Benitoite did. There had to be a way he could pull more people in so that a fight could be avoided and so that no lives would be lost. It had weighed on him, so much so that he had been spending a lot of time in that small dark room of his smoking and staring at the ceiling as he thought.
Today was different though, he had scrubbed the layers of tar and ash from his fingers and cleaned himself up to prepare for this adventure he was going on. Although he had known many dark mirror senshi and two of their royalty, he had never seen that place beyond the mirror. Liam had mentioned bringing him a few times and now that their leg was healed and things had calmed down, they would set out for it today. He knew where to meet them and came with a small first aid kit tucked into the breast pocket of his coat. Powering up just in case, he made sure that it was his rapier that was ready to be called upon. He would prefer not needing it but precautions had to be taken and close range was probably better instead of the long range of his bow.
He felt so tired but as he saw Liam, no Melpomene, he couldn’t help but smile. “I am quite excited about this field trip today. Also, I am happy that we will be able to spend some time together since life has been throwing enough at us to keep us apart.” Stepping close, he hugged them and offered a small kiss on the cheek. “I am ready if you are, any rules I need to keep in mind? I have some notes I took over the years with me to refer to as well.” He had pulled that separate journal from the depths of his collection of notes, this one had all the information he had gathered from the prince and princess of mirrors as well as from the other mirror walkers he had met over the last 10 years.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:23 pm
“Not too much, there honestly isn’t a lot beyond the mirror.” Which might surprise some people, at least the outsiders, as the Negaverse and Orders two factions had a lot more available to them. They had space and whatever the Negaverse had was more as well, of that he was certain, but the mirror court had very little really. “It might feel odd going through a mirror for the first time but it’s normal, you get used to it.” Leaning back into the other as he turned his head and pressed his lips to the others.
“Mirrorscape offers a bit more but that is more of a work in progress, it only grows if we work on growing it.” Bit by bit and crystal by crystal. Nothing they had was solid and stable and a lot had to be worked on by them. They didn’t get it all handed to them, not that he figured the other sides had everything handed to them, but it seemed like the other factions had more handed to them than the mirror court did.
“Let’s go.” Grabbing one of the Generals hands he pulled him towards the mirror and with an ease that spoke of comfort, and some amount of trust in the mirror realm, Melpomene stepped right in and pulled the other with him. The whiteness he was met with didn’t surprise him as he let the others hand go and moved around. “There is a single room which does not move here, a throne room of sorts. Inside is a large golden mirror…it’s how we awaken new members and we power up.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:25 pm
Feeling a bit reassured he nodded and did a mental double take at the mirror that stood before them. Holding on tightly to the other as they stepped through, the feeling was something very new and uncomfortable for him. It felt as if he had stepped through water and not through what should have been a solid surface. The bright white uniformity of the area in front of them caused him to squint a bit as his eyes got used to it. The Rift was not a bright place and had a feel of wasteland to it in places bit this, this felt clinical in a way. Looking around as Melpomene spoke, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this place looked like an office hallway almost. It felt almost like a labyrinth if it moved around as they had said.
“Does it visibly shift or is it more of a case of leaving something behind to find it is no longer there? The rest of the area I mean, besides that throne room.” Pulling out one of his smaller notebooks and pencils, he took a few moments to sketch the view he had. It was a simple thing but it was still a habit of his when going to new places. His lines were smoother and cleaner now that his hands no longer shook.
“Does that also mean to become a senshi you have to be brought here by another just as you brought me here? If I am allowed to ask that, of course.” If that was the case, it added extra steps to the whole process that could be bothersome. Even though he had only done the one awakening, it had left him drained afterward, so he could see the safety in sending someone to a location only accessible by those interested in bringing someone into the fold.
Humming as he walked around a bit, he listened to the acoustics of the area as well. There wasn’t the echo he would expect from the spacing of the walls and floor and they didn’t look like they were soundproofed. It was all so interesting and as he looked back towards his partner, he smiled a bit more. “Which way would be safer to go? I would like to stay close so as to not get lost here. Although if I remember correctly, I will just get spit back out a mirror somewhere in the city if I do get lost.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:28 pm
“The second one. If you leave something here it’ll move, you may not even find it ever. This place is unstable in that way. There is a hall of mirrors as well..I don’t think that changes place either. But the rooms down the halls are never the same and they are all empty.” Which would lead one to ask how they know that the rooms are never the same but that was easy. Leave something in one and then leave and return and in that room the object would not be. So either the rooms changed or the items in the room vanished to somewhere else. Either case didn’t matter since the rooms were all empty.
“Mmm, yeah someone else has to bring you. A mauvian isn’t needed but if one identifies someone and they are with a dark mirror we can do it.” Otherwise how they identified potential dark mirror senshi was an unknown to him. He knew the cats helped but they didn’t have their own. They borrowed whichever chaos cats would help them and not turn over potential corrupts to the dark mirror to join their ranks instead. It must put those cats in a spot really.
“Acubens says Katya is a Mauvian who helps a lot with our side.” That was a name he’d heard from her alot, and he’d met her even. “She’s a good chaos cat, especially since she helps us as well.” Though their ranks were small it was good to have help, it was likely due to not having their own cats that their ranks were so low. It was unlikely that most mauvians who served chaos would help them and not bring a potential senshi to their own side instead. Katya however seemed to go with whoever was around when she found a potential senshi.
“Yeah, the mirror will spit us back out after a time.” Though he’d never had that happen to himself. Stepping forward the grasp the others hand once more he pulled him towards the throne room. Pushing open the doors when he got close to them. The large golden mirror stood there proudly, that was where they got their power from. “If you see any crystals here while we’re exploring let me know. They are a part of mirrorscape….not something I’ve gotten into much but I know about.” Though he didn’t know the whole back story to it, though he did know there was a backstory to the place.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:31 pm
Listening carefully and taking in the information one piece at a time, he felt his hypothesis of it being like a labyrinth was a good one. “Ah, Katya, I believe I have heard that name before.” It had been maybe once or twice but he was sure they were related to Benitoite in a way. “I would like to meet more senshi of the dark mirror one day, I have always found them quite agreeable. I think it is due to my own inclination to avoid fighting, although things have changed over the years for everyone.” Some for the better, much like himself, and some for the worse.
Letting Melpomene pull him along, he kept his head on a swivel as he looked around searching for anything that stood out against the monotony of the plain white hallways. Door after door, everything looked exactly the same. Until they reached the throne room, those doors were different. Both in feeling and appearance. The mirror that stood in the room ahead of them was large and ornate, he felt a bit odd looking at something so important to the way these senshi brought new people in. Part of him felt like he was seeing things he shouldn’t be seeing and he moved a bit closer to Melpomene as he gently pulled his hand back to sketch the view in front of him. He was so very curious about it all but he also knew that sometimes his curiosity got carried away and would get him in trouble. He would hide this notebook away as he always did afterwards, it was knowledge for him to own and nobody else.
The mention of crystals stopped him from sketching as he thought. “Oh, crystals. What do they look like? I have quite the experience with crystals, although from the Rift not here.” Part of him wanted to pull that crystalline fife out of his breastpocket but that was still something he had kept close to the chest in terms of secrecy. Only two people knew of the thing, and he was one of them.
Pulling out another little notebook from his subspace, he opened it for them both to see as he flipped through the pages and pointed at some of the illustrations of crystals he had drawn over the years. There was an obvious timeline of his alcoholism that showed in the written words on the pages but overall the illustrations, when it came to the crystals, were clear and detailed. “Do they look like any of these?”
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:31 pm
“I think we prefer to avoid the fights because we’re fewer in number, we can’t afford to fight either side.” Much less both sides. If either side turned on them, as a whole, it would be no good for them. They were an at risk faction because they were small. But it also lent itself to them being closer together and, knowing their position, trying not to get on the bad side of either other faction. He’d say they did pretty well at that too.
“They are random and they are each a solid color, different colors, but they do things in mirrorscape. Blue for water, red for another thing, green for grass and plant life. Mirrorscape is…like floating plots of nothingness which the crystals are used on to decorate. Each color can create certain things and it takes a lot to create large things, like large areas of grass.” Or water or anything else. But they could be collected and put to use. He knew it but he’d never gone and claimed a plot for himself, though he knew he could. He knew plenty of others had and were working on those areas.
“There is a story behind them but I wasn’t there for it, so I don’t know it well. I haven’t asked.” Looking over the pictures he shook his head slowly. “Nothing like those, and even then I think these don’t do the same things.” Since these could create grass and water…fire and other things.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:34 pm
“That makes sense, I have aided at least one in a fight before but it was against one of those awful oddities that come out during Halloween.” Shuddering a bit, he thought back to when he saw his gravestone one year. “I think if it is any consolation, I would offer my aid in most ventures but I know that not all agents feel the same way.” A little ice slipped out with that last bit as he remembered what another agent had done to Melpomene and also to Lacerta’s parents.
“Oh, that is very very interesting. They sound sort of like conduits or maybe summoning stones in a way. Then yes, very different from most of those that I have drawn. Some are naturally forming and others, well, are from the Rift. Different shades of chaos if I remember what the prince told me back then.” It had been so very long ago, back before the great unpleasantness that had irrevocably changed things.
“If there are decorations or plant life that come from these crystals, do they also get moved around? Or are there places that you can claim that at least keep things within the confines of the room? I understand if you do not have the answers, I would love to help you find out the information though. I would also love to go on a crystal hunt, assuming I can keep myself from getting lost. Which I have a feeling would be very difficult since I am an outsider of sorts to this realm.” Much as the Rift and its youma were not kind of those entering their area either, except with more disregard for the safety of the intruder than this area may have.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:35 pm
“Awful oddities?” Which awful oddity? There were so many around the holidays, especially Halloween, from what he had seen and heard about. It seemed the holidays were never without some sort of oddity or dramatic event occurring. It would be some sort of a miracle if they ever had a peaceful holiday in this city. It just seemed like a Destiny City sort of thing.
“No, not every Negaverse agent is the same, but it’s appreciated. Some senshi and knights get on well with us as well. We’ve tried our best to keep in the middle of things and not get involved with either side.” Since they were such a small faction it would do well to remain as neutral as possible, and they mostly did, because if either side ever decided to fight them…well they weren’t going to win.
“There is more to the stones, a backstory, I’d have to ask someone who was around for it.” He could think of a few people he could ask, none here at the moment, but he was certain he could find out about the stones with no issue. Rhona would be the easiest to ask, since he was close to her, he spoke to her often enough considering she was also his boss.
“It’s similar to a room, but you can’t see walls, it’s just drifting platforms of white. Each stone can grant one thing and only in a small space. If you want a lot of something you need a lot of those stones - like grass. If you want to cover the whole area in grass you’d need dozens of green crystals. It’s a slow going thing for us.” But he’d not started on the path to making his own little floating oasis yet. He would, in time, he just didn’t know what he wanted to even do with the place he had claimed on his one trip to the area. “Getting lost is easy here - even for us. Some are better at finding their way but it takes time, since it’s all the same here. You just need to remember how you got to where you are and retrace steps.” Which could be hard for some. But the lack of anything to help guide them it was understandable.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:37 pm
“The bats were the main ones that I helped a fellow mirror senshi with, Lacerta is her name but at the time she was order. It was an interesting match up but it worked out in the end, though I think she is much happier with mirror than she was then.” A lot had happened to them, things that his own faction had done even if they weren’t methods he used himself. “One year… I happened upon my own grave. It was a bit jarring after the other things that had happened that year.” Luckily someone had intervened and gotten him out of there, even now he remembered how quickly they’d come to help when he’d sent a message.
Leaning against one of the walls, he felt to see how solid everything was considering what they were saying. Everything seemed normal enough but it probably was one of those situations where movement happened when the area wasn’t being observed. “I would love to learn more in time and maybe one day I will bump into that prince again. It has been a while and he was quite pleasant to talk with back then.”
Thinking about the possibilities of what could be done, he started sketching a bit more on a fresh page in his notebook. Over the years, he’d gotten quite good at sketching things and even now it only took him a few minutes to plan some designs out for an area if he’d had the ability to create a space for himself that wasn’t his office in the castle. “I look forward to how your space will turn out when you start on it just as I have enjoyed seeing how you handle that room upstairs in my house.” Teasing just a bit, he’d gotten used to the changes over time in his home. It was a welcome change of pace, having someone living there with him and eating what he cooked, at least most of the time.
“I think I have some idea of how it is here though so if you want to head back, I understand. I would love to come back here occasionally if that is alright?” Maybe once they had a bit more of an idea for what to do in their space or if something else odd was going on here.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:38 pm
“I think I’ve seen her but not actually met her…I’m certain she’s one who spends time with Acubens though.” And he knew her, though he was certain everyone in the court knew her. The eternal of raptors seemed to have taken it upon herself to greet everyone in the court, and mother them all, she was just that sort of person and he was grateful for that. She had helped him in more ways than he ever thought, more than he’d even wanted at the time. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know he was an orphan but Acubens had found out. She’d done a lot for him, more than anyone had, and he still owed her for it all somehow even if she’d never accept him as owing her. It was why he stood by her side.
“My prince? Remarque?” He questioned.
He’d thought about it, on and off, but he’d never thought of an idea really for mirrorscape. “A room in a house is easy, it’s a lot more open and easy to work with. Mirrorscape is a lot more limited so I’m not sure what I’ll do with that, though I have considered ideas.” He’d considered a lot but it was so limited in what could be done, due to the crystals and what they could so, there was really no technology available with them. He didn’t even think he could manage to build a home…though maybe he could.
“We can go to mirrorscape if you’d like, I wouldn’t mind showing you the chaos seed…”
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:39 pm
“Maybe one day I can introduce you to her? Though we have only ever met in this way, she only knows of me as Chalcanthite. I know quite a few mirror senshi, probably more of them than senshi of the Negaverse if I am being honest. I like them a lot more, especially you.” Smiling a bit, he leaned forward and poked them in the chest. “Yes Remarque, it was years back before I was a General. It was a chance meeting but pleasant either way, it would be nice to chat with them again.”
“I see, well either way it will be interesting to see what you come up with.” Standing back up and away from the wall, he smoothed his uniform down again. Always trying to look as clean and proper as he could in case someone else happened upon them.
“Oh is that something that is allowed? Nothing to eat me there right?” Joking slightly, he’d been used to youma and had been drained by a wraith in the past. Truth be told the wraith was the better experience when it came down to things, it was easier to sleep that off than to deal with an injury. Part of him did wonder if his weapon would do anything against the wraiths here since it was their home turf. They hadn’t really seemed like they had the same physical form that his youma had.
“After you then.” Standing beside them, he stayed close just in case.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:40 pm
“I know a lot of mirror senshi as well.” For obvious reasons, laughing as he spoke. “But I’m fairly certain I know her. I’m terrible with names since most of the time we’re in a group something big is going on.” Like mirrorspace trying to kill them, which it seemed rather keen on doing at times, it certainly tried hard to kill its senshi. “I would hope you like me a lot. But I’m glad you’re on good terms with my court.” That made the relationship easier - a lot easier. He couldn’t imagine dating someone who didn’t like his court, or someone his court disliked, it would make things nearly impossible. He would not be torn between two families.
“No, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about wraiths here. I don’t think I’ve met any here really…” Turning he headed back to where they’d need to go in order to reach mirrorscape…and the chaos seed. “The seed has been here as long as I am, I’m unsure where it came from.”
Taking the others hand he pulled him along and they did come out the other side - right under the chaos seed.
It wasn’t uncommon for him to visit mirrorscape, he visited somewhat often, what was unusual was for him to be alone. He was often with one, or both, of his partners. Tonight was a rare night where the eternal was on his own; at least he thought he was. It seemed he was going to get some unexpected company.
Standing under the chaos seed he was nearly walked right into by someone, two someones, and jumping out of the way the taller of the dark dark mirror senshi nearly fell over. Yelping he caught his balance rather quickly, after some hand cartwheeling, he turned his dark eyes onto the two figures and stared. A general…oh.
“Sorry.” A small bow of his head as he spoke quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. “Melpomene.” He knew the others name, how could he not? He had been taken under Acubens’ wing and so knew everyone else she’d taken under her wing. They were also all family, as far as he was concerned. “And General…?” Trailing off, unsure who the other was, as he stood there looking the two over, it was from pocket space that he casually pulled a plush panda and held it in his lap. The plush was squishy and clearly well loved, and taken care of.
“Touring mirrorscape?”
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:41 pm
It was the odd feeling again much like when he was pulled through the mirror, he’d seen the other and stepped forward to put a hand in front of Liam in a half-protective manner as the other senshi yelped and then stood back up. It was out of habit more than anything at this point as a bit more of that cold ice of his showed on his face. Once they apologized he eased his posture a bit, they knew Liam well at least as a senshi.
He inclined his head a bit in a bow to the shorter senshi. “General Chalcanthite.” There was a bit of cold professionalism in his voice as he wanted to make sure everything was still alright. Taking in the other’s appearance, he took mental notes and would draw up a sketch later in one of his notebooks. Names, appearances, and information about people were scattered throughout almost a hundred notebooks that he had filled over the years. He never forgot a face or name, it was too risky to forget what a senshi’s magic did either. The panda plushie was odd though, a detail he’d be sure to include.
“Yes I was interested in it a bit, I know a few other mirror walkers and wanted to see what things were like.” Chancing a glance at the chaos seed, he had been very curious about it but Liam probably didn’t know much about it. Remarque would but information about something like that was probably not likely to be shared often let alone with someone from a different faction. It wouldn’t be a good idea to share everything when in a position of neutrality, secrets and knowledge could be turned into weapons when needed.
Leaning into Liam a bit, he whispered. “Who are they?”
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2023 7:43 pm
“Kiuchi, he’s been around longer than I have.” He whispered while glancing towards the winged eternal. He didn’t know him well but he knew Acubens trusted him, and the other kept to her side often, he was as loyal to her as he was. Liam assumed she had done something for him - helped him in some way. He’d even heard the eternal worked with Remarque.
“He knows Remarque well and Acubens. I don’t know much on his magic but the plushie…that’s normal.” He’d seen a plushie in the others hands fairly often, especially when battles and things got really tense and stressful. It seemed to be how the other handled things, or something like that, it was interesting and he did wonder about them. They didn’t seem much of a fighter but he figured they were an eternal for a reason.
“He might know about the seed.”
“I see, it’s not as impressive as other places are. We don’t get to call space home and only a few of us have ever been to space, though I can’t say that was worth it.” Shuddering at the memory of that. It really had been interesting, and great even, till you started to notice how suspicious things were…then they went to hell and it wasn’t great anymore.
“I wouldn’t turn away from my court for space though.” Shrugging as he looked out towards the floating shards of mirror, each one a tiny little island belonging to someone or waiting for someone to claim it. “That’s the mirrorscape. It’s all we have…and even then we didn’t have it the whole time.”
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