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Once more Nausikaa found herself in the park during the evening, sitting on the same bench she had occupied the last time she was here, just a few days ago. Only this time her visit was with a specific purpose in mind: joining the Dark Mirror Court.

She had taken care of everything she could think of prior to making such a big change in her life. Her apartment was packed up and ready to move to a new place, that was the biggest thing. And her beloved Mini Cooper was in storage, ready for her to retrieve once she was all set up. The rest would come as it would. She hoped Remarque had been able to arrange for a new apartment for her – that seemed amazing to her, that he would be willing to do that. Here he was, just some random Dark Mirror Senshi she'd happened to run into one night, after all! The idea of working for him was intriguing too; she felt certain that she'd walked past his antique shop before, maybe even stopped to window-shop. She nearly vibrated from the excitement. All this from a random encounter in the park!

In truth, Lacerta had been one of those random encounters too, yet she had been equally kind and helpful. It was she who had told Nausikaa about the Dark Mirror Court in the first place, after all, and given her plenty of information so she could make an informed choice. And they had so much in common, coming over to the Court from the White Moon, and with a similar background, essentially both being orphans. She really hoped the Dark Mirror Eternal would come to see her join the Court.

Twiddling her thumbs, she looked around the twilit park. She was in an obvious spot, she thought, near where she had first met Remarque. And she felt certain he wasn't going to stand her up, not the way he'd been talking. Nevertheless, she felt just the tiniest bit impatient. She was so excited by the potential that lay ahead of her – exploring Mirrorspace being at the forefront – that she just wanted to get it done. The sooner the better.

And she couldn't wait to meet this Prince! Nausikaa was just so very curious about him.

"I did," Nausikaa smiled as she stood to greet Lacerta. "I asked for you specifically. I was hoping you'd want to see this – this transformation." She looked down at the ground. "You were so nice to me, and so enthusiastic about the Dark Mirror Court. I couldn't imagine doing this without you here to watch. You really helped me out – you gave me an option to leave the White Moon that I didn't even know about. I can't wait to become one of you."

Reaching out, she took the Dark Mirror Eternal's hand. "Thank you."

Then she put her hands on her hips and looked around. "Now if only Remarque would get here. And that Prince. I'm really looking forward to meeting him – I've never met a Royal anything before, you know?" Nausikaa knew she was babbling a little, but she didn't care. She was just so ready to have this done and excited to begin her new life.

Another Dark Mirror Eternal energy signature manifested in the park very near to the bench. It only took Remarque a few seconds to pass from the hidden mirror and move past the row of bushes. He stepped over them casually, not quite in a rush but also not wasting time.

“I’m surprised both of you beat me here. Usually I’m the first to arrive,” he called, once he was on the sidewalk and only a few feet away from them. He raised a hand in greeting and smiled.

“I hope I didn't keep you waiting for two long. Lacerta, Nausikaa. You both look good, I’m glad you could make it.”

It was a nice night. Perfect for new beginnings.

“I was thinking we could either do this here, or in Mirrorspace. Wherever you’d like most, Nausikaa. Tonight’s your night.”

No rush, either way. He was eager but not pushy, and if she was any bit as excited as she was the last time he'd seen her, he doubted she'd want to drag her feet, either.

The admission that Nausikaa gave about how she and Remarque had treated her like family already struck a chord within Lacerta and she swore her vision blurred for a second. There was a sense of wonder in those simple, yet profound, words that the eternal senshi could not help but grasp at. Even though circumstances were a little different, she had to wonder if Acubens had felt like this when she had made her intention clear that she wanted to join the Dark Mirror Court. The question of when that would have happened had been taken out of her hands but Lacerta couldn't fault the universe for that. She could, however, fault the Negaverse.

Even as she shook the nagging thought free that she still owed payback to someone did another aura register on her radar. Sitting upright the young woman visibly relaxed as the familiar presence of an eternal dark mirror senshi washed over her. At Remarque's voice did Lacerta turn to peer at the senshi of puppetry before offering a wave in his direction. They'd not been waiting long and even before she could think of gently teasing the other eternal did she instead listen to what Nausikaa was saying.

Even as the Senshi of Empathy was addressing Remarque did Lacerta merely give a questioning look towards Rem before putting a hand on Nausikaa's shoulder, "pretty sure he'll be here sooner than you think. He was the one that brought me into the court as well. He might've been distracted by something once again: a matter that only he could deal with. Wait and you'll see. It'll be okay."

"I sure hope he'll be here soon," Nausikaa nodded as Lacerta put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not polite to keep people waiting…"

Then she saw the large black wings unfurl from Remarque's back and felt his energy signature amplify by a significant amount, and her eyes went huge. She nearly fell back to the bench, but she held her ground, partly thanks to Lacerta's steadying presence. "You– But– " she stammered, barely hearing the Dark Mirror Prince's explanation of why he hadn't said anything to her. But listen she did, and as the initial shock wore off, she nodded slowly in understanding. He hadn't wanted his rank to interfere with her decision; he wanted the choice to be hers alone, without perceived pressure from him.

That, to her, was the sign of a good and reasonable leader. One she would be happy to be ruled by.

She watched Remarque – Prince Remarque – produce a tall black mirror as easily as he had produced that chair in Mirrorspace. So this was it – the way to becoming a Dark Mirror Senshi. "I think I understand. I just walk through the mirror, follow the light, and it'll happen, right?" she asked, saying it as much to Lacerta as Remarque. "Just that easily."

Studying the black glass of the mirror, Nausikaa thought over what she was about to do, and why. This felt right. Becoming a member of the Dark Mirror Court held the promise of everything she had never gotten as a White Moon Senshi: a sense of belonging, of working toward something bigger and grander than she could ever imagine, of potentially saving humanity from itself – or more precisely, from being collateral damage in the stupid and senseless war between Order and Chaos. And of course, the wondrous new world to explore to her heart's content.

"Yes," she said finally. "This is the right thing for me to be doing." She placed her hand over Lacerta's and gave a calming sigh. "I really want this."

Nausikaa looked over at Lacerta and smiled. "Okay, no running for me. I'll be calm and collected and just walk out the other side of the mirror." Then she turned her gaze to Remarque, smile still in place. "I trust you, Prince Remarque," she said with a nod. "I really do. If you say it won't hurt, I believe you. You've had every opportunity to lie to me, and so far everything you've told me has been the truth. I see no reason for that to have changed now."

She gave Lacerta and the Prince a little wave. "See you on the other side," she said, and stepped into the black mirror.

*********

It felt like it had when she'd first gone through a mirror, a shimmering sensation as if stepping through a waterfall. This time, though, she found herself in total darkness. She held her arms out to keep her balance, as it was a bit disorienting not to be able to see anything. A light… she was supposed to be looking for a light. Carefully she walked through the darkness, the heels of her boots clicking softly on whatever the floor of this place was. Where was this light she was supposed to follow?

She thought she saw something then, a tiny pinprick of light, as if a hole had been punched in the blanket of darkness. Blinking just in case it was an optical illusion, she looked again. Yes, there it was! She almost broke into a trot, but Lacerta's admonition not to run sprang up in her mind, so she strode with purpose toward the light. As it grew bigger and brighter, she couldn't help but smile broadly. Everything would be different now.

*********

Nausikaa emerged from the mirror at such a brisk pace she nearly walked right past her two companions – her new team mates, she realized. Stopping abruptly, giving a small balance check with her arms, she mentally assessed herself, searching her memories to make sure everything there was still intact. She could have wept when the memory of her mother's death surfaced. She was fine. She was still herself…. And yet no longer herself. The self-assessment continued; something was different, deep inside her, but it wasn't bad or unpleasant. It was… almost like a hug around her heart.

The newly-minted Dark Mirror Senshi looked at Lacerta and Remarque with bright turquoise eyes that had once been brown. "Is it over? Was that it?"

Remarque almost laughed at Nausikaa’s surprise. She hadn’t been gone for long at all. He’d listened to Lacerta as she spoke but he’d have been lying if he said he hadn’t been watching the mirror, just in case.

The mirror itself was black, too dark to see into, but she’d come out of it just fine. He'd had the opportunity to nod along with Lacerta's words but any answer would have to wait.

Nausikaa arrived back quickly. The mirror flickered away shortly after she stepped out. Its work was done; they had no further need of it.

Nausikaa was home. Well, in a sense. Remarque still had a pair of keys to give her, but that was a different 'home' on top of this one. They’d spoken a great deal while she was exploring the ruins in Mirrorspace, and in that conversation they'd discussed her preferred living space. It had been easy to get a good idea of where she wanted to live, about what her needs and preferences were. Not such an easy task to find said location, but if you had enough money to throw at a problem it was easy enough to fix.

He thought he’d picked a good place for now, and with a three month lease it should be enough time for her to figure out if she wanted to stay there for longer or if she wanted to use that time to find somewhere else.

Mauvians could work miracles, and it wouldn’t be much effort to find one to help get all their little problems worked out. She’d need a new identity and all, but these were things that could be dealt with tomorrow.

“You look good, Nausikaa.”

She looked happy, healthy. He hoped she wasn’t disappointed by how painless the process was. Mirrorspace probably liked her; it wanted to get her in and out quickly so she could get back to exploring.

“How do you feel?”

Lacerta couldn't help but give Nausikaa a wan smile as the other newly-made dark mirror senshi thanked her, "I don't think you need to owe me anything. I was just there at the right time and right place it seemed to offer advice. You did all the heavy lifting. I'm just glad that you are now where you seem you really want to be."

As Nausikaa parsed out her new name seemingly out of thin air did the eternal senshi remember how long it took her to find her own new civilian identity. She had already been gifted the use of a surname courtesy of Rhona but finding a first name that flowed off the tongue had been a challenge, until it wasn't.

Knowing that Nausikaa now felt at home as a dark mirror senshi Lacerta figured that what she was about to do wasn't going to break any rules or anything like that. Focusing on her subspace pocket for a moment Lacerta had a pen and notepad materialize before she wrote down her civilian name and the number to her cellphone, "Nausikaa if you ever need to get a hold of me when you aren't powered up, here is my information."

She paused before continuing, "I'd like the chance to meet and know you as Chloe, if you'd like that."