>>4444143
>From here, gather the attention of Hematite and say with certainty that he is wrong Endymion Lives

Let this become a meme of the ages.

>>4444143
>>Intervene now, stand openly beside them, unfurl the robes of Eclipse for the white armor

>>4444143
>>Write in
>Find Hematite's cameraman/person/monster, turn the feed back on.
He doesn't want the world to see? Let's turn that around.

Then combine with another option.
Gimmie a sec, have some words bounding around in my head for that..

>>4444143
>>Intervene now, stand openly beside them as Eclipse

>>4444143
>From here, gather the attention of Hematite and say with certainty that he is wrong Endymion Lives

>>4444184
>>4444143
"General Hematite, I can only assume the Chaos which you unwittingly serve has blinded you and your fellows to truth that has been before you this whole time.
You recognize the legacy of the Sailor Guardians, but fail to see that of those who protect them?"
>squad up with knights dramatically
"The legacy of Elysion stands."

I guess this is compatible with a few other options as well.

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>>4444213

Why the absolute hell is everything, gif and still image, I google a Chrome HTML document. Why the absolute hell?!

>>4444231
Think something is screwy. I ended up having to use the drawing widget to import and post an image because posting wouldn't recognize a jpg.

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>>4444238
Let me try.

>>4444143
>Find Hematite's cameraman/person/monster, turn the feed back on.
I like this. +
>Make a pithy warning here, tell Hematite he has no chance at victory
Let's wait until the fight's over though, for the Endymion Lives bit.

remember folks we are running at /qst/ speeds now. Also, welcome everybody

Just gonna bash a lot of things together.

Amid all of this you know what needs to be done. Casting your eyes to the sky you see the floating crystal aperture that continues to float lazily above. It’s present to your senses, mundane and psychometric, so you reach out to it as you prepare to descend toward the field of battle so joined. It isn’t a surprise to you that the enemy is using actual psychic technology, which means you might be able to switch it back on.

-broadcast- you command it and feel pathways open up and the strange ambient buzz you hadn’t really noticed stopping amid the earlier chaos resuming.

Well now...

It catches the end of the group recitation of the Sailor Senshi. It catches the raised swords and promises of retribution and justice from your anointed Knights.

It will catch you. Time to give it, the enemy, and the world a show they’ll never forget. Whipping your cloak round yourself you ready yourself to leap into the fray, but not before drawing the attention of your foe.

“HEMATITE!” you declare from there, drawing the attention of both the wounded Dark General and the assembled heroes, “You serve blinded by Chaos, recognizing the legacy of the Sailor Guardians but fail to see the legacy of those who protect them,”

Hurling yourself forward, carried by your acrobatic training and the enhancement of your jump, you twist through the air as your cape spirals behind you. Landing in a flourish of rose petals you rise.

There is some uncertainty, so here we go…
>Endymion Lives!
>Elysion yet stands!
>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
>Tuxedo-ism
>Write in

And in this case, perhaps appearances are important
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now
>Doff the cloak for the White Armor...solidarity and royalty as you suit up
>The Crystal, by gold you will cast yourself in a queenly dress, be it Light or Dark?
>You...don’t know if you can...but you feel the Broach & Crystal’s weight...

>>4444608
>Endymion Lives!
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now

>>4444608
>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
>Tuxedo-ism
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now

>>4444608
>Elysion yet stands!
And we will always be here to protect this world and our people.
>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
That seems a good parting shot.

>Eclipse for now, save White Armor for Endymion lives

>>4444608
>Endymion Lives!
+
>The Crystal, by gold you will cast yourself in a kingly armor of Light and Dark

What is the status on the golden crystal right now?
Last I recall was working toward an always on access option.

>>4444608
This
>>4444647

Honestly, I don't feel it would be thematically appropriate to use the gold crystal until we are facing end game bosses.

>>4444608
>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
>The Crystal, by gold you will cast yourself in a queenly dress of Light

>>4444608
>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
>Tuxedo-ism
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now

>>4444656
Agreed. Plus I don't think Mikage should use it until after she's fully mentally healed.

>>4444656
>>4444673
Are you guys those people who save all the super items and never use them even on the final boss because it might not be the final boss?

>>4444678
Playing video games aside we are telling a story here. We have bigger fish to fry than Hematite. If this was Hiddenite or that Chaos Boy than I would be backing the Golden Crystal 100%.

Also as >>4444673 said, the wholeness of the crystal mirrors Mikage's mental health. Makes more sense to wait until she is whole.

Also, >>4444608
>>4444615
>>4444633

Might as well change my vote to this to consolidate things.

>>4444608
>>4444647
I can dig it. Time for Twilight super armor!

>>4444681
>Playing video games aside we are telling a story here. We have bigger fish to fry than Hematite.

If the option is there, then we should go for it. I'd rather figure out what it does here and now on a lesser enemy, then be scrambling to figure it out on an oh shit fight. Plus if it wasn't story appropriate, it wouldn't have been an option.

>>4444706
This is Sailor Moon. Springing crazy new powers out of nowhere at powerful enemies is tradition. With how Mikage has been, it doesn't really seem in character for her to go with the golden crystal now of all times when she has be recalcitrant about using it this whole time. I could honestly see Art making us roll to try using it, given how against we have been up till now, and if we fail we wasted our entrance.

>>4444713
>This is Sailor Moon. Springing crazy new powers out of nowhere at powerful enemies is tradition.

Yes and that has gotten people killed in Sailor Moon. Tradition ain't always the way to go, especially when we've already had people die.

But ultimately, it sounds to me like you're getting a little salty that this isn't going all your way. Chill out and let things roll where they may.

>>4444608
>>4444647
Whelp, since it looks like we're getting ready to go super saiyan, might as well back the balance option.

>>4444706
>if it wasn't story appropriate, it wouldn't have been an option
I'm pretty sure Artemis only started listing it as an option because people talked about wanting to do it.

>>4444745
Possibly, but in this moment, revealing to the enemy that the royal family of Elysion still stands, feels pretty appropriate to me.

>>4444751
Agreed; I just don't want to put all our chips on the table with that quite yet, for a number of reasons, including keeping something up our sleeve.

>>4444608
>>Endymion Lives!
>>Doff the cloak for the White Armor...solidarity and royalty as you suit up

>>4444713
>>4444751
>>4444802
The Golden crystal is whole and we have used it without transforming. The side effects are spontaneous hair growth and suddenly wearing a pink dress.
I think the transformation option is the one with Broach & Crystal.

>>4444922
Thought that was the silver?

Not in favor of saving it forever, but would like to wait until it and we are whole..
And trying an untested crystal on live tv while trying to reassure people of the competence of Earth's defenders seems a bit of a risk.

>>4444930
Nope, that would be the gold. We haven't used the real silver crystal in quest at all.

But in either event, this isn't a big fight at this point, the general has been hit hard and is very outnumbered. We don't need to display that card just yet, one item the enemy is unaware of being in play at this time.
If we are looking to shake him with a physical display the fancy white armor of Endymion we received from attuning with Earth nodes would be a sign he should recognize. At that point, we're implying the Heir to Elysium card we've saving, which feels like a bigger social combat card than we need, but not a terrible choice if going the Endymion Lives route on TV.

>>4444933
Broach I think is the Silver.
Not sure we finished work on the container for the Golden. Believe that was one of our craft projects, along with finishing the last bit of ourselves.

>>4444938
The broach contains the golden crystal, Koyomi has the silver crystal, mom gave us the broach to put the golden crystal in (thread 24 http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/33087853/ )
the golden crystal is whole as of Thread 137 http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/654840/#p658906 and we have succesfully used it to help purify kalyke in that thread

>>4444608
Cool, Eclipsed Moon Quest!

>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
>Tuxedo-ism
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now

>>4444608
Doing a new transformation on live feed doesn't seem wise.

>Save Endymion lives for after the fight
>Tuxedo-ism
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now

>>4444945
>>4444945
Yes, we've tapped it a couple times and gotten lucky on our rolls to do so, but still in the bids and rolls end of usability.
It is intact, but not entirely whole still, same as Mikage.

As for the Silver, that was 4am brain thinking we had Usa's silver crystal and not just the timekey.

>>4444608
>Save Endymion live for after the fight
>Tuxedo-ism
>Remain in the Regalia of Eclipse...no need to shake things up now

Writing

You remain in the Regalia of Eclipse as you rise, flanked on either side by your Knights. On your left are Kairi Osaka and Midori Mori in their roles and regalia as your Nephrite Knight and Jadeite Knight. On your right are Hisako Ito and Koito Kino in their roles and regalia as your Kunzite Knight and Zoisite Knight.

Across from you the Dark General stands defiantly. Hematite, the member of your unknown enemy’s Neo Shintennou. Organized and modeled after the ancient warriors known as The Four Heavenly Kings, whose souls bound in stone act as stewards and mentors to the knights behind you. Beyond him are the young Sailor Guardians.

Sailor New Moon, your younger sister Koyomi.

Sailor Mars, the young shinto priestess Rin Kumada.

Sailor Mercury, prodigal psychic on the cusp of realizing their own power Aiha Mizuno.

Sailor Jupiter, the competitive yet strong hearted Kanari Kino.

Sailor Venus, the candle lit as a flare to rise the idol Venus Aino.

Sailor Pluto, newly awakened legacy and oncoming guardian of time Ranko Meioh.

Sailor Sol, burning of soul and purpose, a victim of ancient evil reincarnated Keiko Sugimoto.

Against Hematite you stand; friends, allies, and guardians for all the world to see.

“You would tout an incomplete history, to state your case until challenged both in word and combat? Truly a disingenuous teacher,” you flourish and scoff at the villain, “Fear not, for I have reactivated your invasive broadcast that instead of the tragedy you espouse the world may instead hear truth and see your evil put to rest. Sailor New Moon we’ve drawn this blackened blood, but it will take your love and justice to staunch the true wounds and dispersions he casts upon this earth,”

Koyomi steps forward and...lowers her guard?!

“Hematite, some of what you said is true,” she states cleanly and approaches, “I am an inheritor of the remnants of a Kingdom forgotten and burned, one that I never knew. So even if I am cast by the Moon with its power and as it’s protector I am first and foremost a child of this Earth. Of this world that you’ve woken up to,”

There is a gentle pleading to her voice, as she raises a staying hand to all present.

“What you’re fighting for, how you’re fighting...it's hurting people. It’s seen good people killed with whatever hubris you wield this darkness. I beg of you, no more. Surrender and help us find a way to truly save the world, and create a stronger future for everyone with only our own sacrifices. Not the sacrifice of the innocent,” she is in tears.

Hematite stares down at her, with a stern face beneath his tightly cropped copper hair. Clutching his wound. You look into him with your appraising eyes, you need to get a feel for what you are likely to fight here.

>>4446162

“Before you were born, child, I was already long dead. I am cursed with loyalty to my cause and kingdom, or at least what little of it remains. Too much has been shed, too much has been sacrificed to abandon the path we walk,” he lets go of his wound and raises a hand as a fell aura takes him, you know what he is and it is not what you had expected! “Know that for the sake of your compassion I am truly sorry, but these choices are far and away beyond what I have become,”

Everyone tenses ready and set that they may spring to action, only for Hematite to convulse unnaturally, and hang there like a puppet. His uniform burns away in black flame, revealing a wooden puppet of marionette like design that collapses in flames. A decoy!

There is a distant laugh on a nearby rooftop. Too far for most spells to reach or to reach him in time as he is cast in sparkling dark light. News and Paramilitary helicopters turn their lights toward him.

This fight was over before it was even joined. The gash across the doll mirrors the wound left on what you thought was the real Hematite by your Kunzite Knight. A proxy and facsimile.

“We will meet again, all of you, and it will be a decisive fight where the world will be born anew!” he turns in a building field of energy, he is preparing to teleport!

So far away, you shout out the most important thing you believe needs be said. Not for the sake of the audience but for the sake of those watching alongside the leader behind these enemies, who may yet soon be revealed to you if you can carry out your plans for infiltration.

“HEMATITE!” you call out to the figure as the rising light of energy coalesce around him for translocation, he turns his attention again to you the mysterious hero Eclipse, “Endymion LIVES!”

Even at this distance, the shock on his features is palpable. Despite his status as an enemy there is a sudden wonder and confusion on his features. As he vanishes his words are consumed by the whine of magical energy folding space around him, but you can tell what he said. He said ‘the prince’.

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>>4446163

Was it a question? Was it a statement? You aren’t sure...all you do know is that today’s operation conducted under emergency proceedings, was an absolute success. And though your foe fled, the world watched him do so. The world heard your rebuttal. Graciously the enemy presented themselves to the world as an alternative salvation, and in conflict with you they played their hand. There may yet still be those who will stand beside them...but you don’t think it will come to that yet.

>Leave, start roof hopping before the JSDF & PITF soldiers arrive to secure the area
>Go meet the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces, cooperate with the official debrief
>Leave with a parting statement for the camera, what?
>Go and walk past the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces, be seen the leave on the ground
>Write in


&

>Do not mug further for the camera
>Mug for the camera, kneel before the admitted inheritor of the Silver Millenium
>Mug for the camera, approach Sailor New Moon and embrace her
>Mug for the camera, take Sailor New Moon’s hand
>write in

&

>Anything you want to say to Sailor New Moon or of her, her retinue, and your Knights while on this broadcast?

>>4446169
>Go meet the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces, cooperate with the official debrief
>Do not mug further for the camera

>>4446169
I'm against mugging for the camera. Not sure about the other vote though. Thoughts, everyone?

>>4446207
I say we talk to the JSDF and PITF to make Naru’s life easier.

>>4446169
>Go meet the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces, cooperate with the official debrief
>Do not mug further for the camera

>>4446169
>>Go meet the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces, cooperate with the official debrief
>>Mug for the camera, take Sailor New Moon’s hand

>>4446169
>Go meet the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces
Think we should still avoid getting too cozy with a full debrief (since we know the enemy has moles), but with all this openly assisting their troops and the scouts, and the TV appearance, we can't deny our existence.. and dropping vague things like our group being heirs to the legacy of Elysium will play great in the enemy ears when it leaks to them.

>>Anything you want to say to Sailor New Moon or of her, her retinue, and your Knights while on this broadcast?
"Thank you, Sailor Guardians, for all you have done and given for the people of Earth, and know you are not alone."

Shut off the feed, perhaps with a snap of the finger if we can manage it.
Don't mug for the camera any further.
MUG the camera.
Order it down, tackle it, shut it down, and/or snipe it with a rose.
Let's get a look at what the enemy's craftsmanship is like.

>>4446207
Personally, I'm for formally greeting PIT, but not for a full debriefing.

Though it might be better if the Scouts split and we hang around, we're likely better at deception and we don't want the enemy to know about the actual operation that was in play here. We can sell a Perfect Lie about responding to a disturbance here, which is entirely true so maybe the power won't be needed, just not including anything about other things that were going on.

Actually, thinking of PIT reminds me:
Artemis, we may have wrapped up an open vote you left in our hands a few years ago on the tail end of the last thread. Apologies for dragging it out so long.
Looks like Daybreak Arrow was the leading vote.

adding to >>4446382
>>4446169
>>Anything you want to say to Sailor New Moon or of her, her retinue, and your Knights while on this broadcast?
>>4446398
>"Thank you, Sailor Guardians, for all you have done and given for the people of Earth, and know you are not alone."
sounds good

>>4446162
>On your left are Kairi Osaka and Midori Mori
Did Midori use an illusion to fake this? I thought Kairi was on the way to the safehouse

>>4446481
....fuck me, just...yeah probably.

>>4446169
>>4446398

I can back all this reasoning.

>>4446169
>>4446481

This seems good to me.

>>4446169
>Go meet the oncoming JSDF & PITF forces, cooperate with the official debrief
>Mug for the camera, kneel before the admitted inheritor of the Silver Millenium
>"Thank you, Sailor Guardians, for all you have done and given for the people of Earth, and know you are not alone."

>>4447808
Meant to not have a debrief just to meet with them

The danger passed, the enemy routed, and your objectives secure, you approach the space Hematite once occupied and regard Sailor New Moon and the assembled Sailor Guardian thoughtfully. You yet remain on the broadcast, whatever form that will take, so before you cut the feed telepathically you will do at least this.

“"Thank you, Sailor Guardians, for all you have done and given for the people of Earth, and know you are not alone."

It is not for your little sister’s benefit, it is for the world. The war you wage will be one of hearts and minds, especially now that the enemy has made their great play for the confidence of the people.

With a casual snap, you cut the feed, and command the enemy’s camera to descend to your hand. The dark multifaceted crystal bears internal lines of power and structure, circuitry of magic meant to perform tasks in mimicry of modern technology. It may be worth studying this later to learn about it, but you need to be careful as it may serve as a useful psionic beacon for the enemy to track in turn.

You’ll worry more about that later, you suppose. It’ll be easiest to dissect this at the Crowne or at Tomoe-sensei’s lab.

“Well,” you smile beneath the mask across the lower half of your face, “We did it,”

“Yeah,” she smiles, “but what comes next?”

“The debrief,” you turn to face the oncoming JSDF Pit Forces.

Among your assembled number, Nephrite Knight fades from sight, dispersing into loose magical energies.

“Sorry about that, Eclipse,” Jadeite Knight offers, “Kind of thought it would be better if it looked like all of us were here,”

“No, it was a good call. In all the chaos I didn’t actually notice she wasn’t here,” he lay a hand on your Knight’s shoulder.

You are greeted by the arrival of the Paranormal Incident Task Force and JSDF support teams. Securing the area and inviting you off to a mobile command center for a debriefing.

From what you’ve come to understand, there are likely moles within both organizations, so you are able to keep your answers brief...but in some cases useful to ruffle a few feathers.

That your faction represents the inheritance and memory of Elysion that was.

The debrief isn’t long, as the beats of what transpired really come from the Senshi, though they don’t speak up about the matter of the more secretive aspects of the mission. Enemy action was made public, and so the big all together moment happened.

The lot of you are able to disperse quickly enough when matters are resolved, and the field debrief was actually cut short. Orders from one of the Captains at base command.

You can’t help but feel like offering Kairi’s mom your thanks for that.

After everything, you didn’t have to do as much as you were expecting. Everyone together carried the day, and you think back to when you started this. When you decided that you had to do this alone, when you pleaded with your parents and Luna for secrecy.

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>>4447913

It feels kind of silly now looking down on events, until you are abruptly brought out of these musings by a firm slap on your shoulders by Hisako.

“That was absolutely the best damn night of fights I’ve had in ages,” she grins broadly, releasing the hold of her regalia and then stretching and laughing, “but oh man, Hanako is gonna scold me something fierce for how I kicked things off,”

“That was...absolutely something,” Koito sighs, opting to make his caped dressings vanish with a decidedly more purposeful flourish, “That monster was something else,”

“Well, congratulations on soloing it,” you smile as you pull down your mask and draw back your hood, “I think we all pulled through fantastically,”

Yeon and Saori chime in over comms, confirming locations of all assets and everyone’s safety.

>Check in with the Senshi before everyone departs
>Make your way to the safe house, check in on Kairi and the shadows
>Head back to the Crowne Base
>Locate Sasha, see how he’s doing after the fray
>It's getting late, everyone should probably head home
>Write in

>>4447915
>Locate Sasha, see how he’s doing after the fray

We know he got dressed in a certain way. We need to see this.

>Head back to the Crowne Base

Pluto-chan still needs her welcoming party.

>>4447915
>>Head back to the Crowne Base

>>4447915
>Head back to the Crowne Base

>>4447915
>Make your way to the safe house, check in on Kairi and the shadows
I mean they're kinda the reason we set all this up in the first place

>>4447915
>>4447938
>>4447994

Oh, duh. Didn't read all the options. Yeah, business before pleasure.

>>4447915
>Make your way to the safe house, check in on Kairi and the shadows
>Write in: Text Sasha as we go, make sure he's good.
Once we take care of all this, (which will probably take a bit) I figure we can hit Pluto's party, if it's ongoing, or crash and chat with her and the girls tomorrow. Assuming no emergencies, of course.

>>4447915
>Make your way to the safe house, check in on Kairi and the shadows
>Write in
Contact Ranko as well, have an idea-
Circulate images/rumors of some sort of fight between the Red Eyed Beast and figures matching the shadows' descriptions.
Run it through as the Beast having encountering them fleeing the park area while she was on her way there to join in the mass street fight.
Save on orchestrating a public mock battle if we stage is as happening when everyone's focus is elsewhere.
May want to spoof some blurry footage and a few scattered reports.

Writing.

Including texts and contacts in your travel to Kairi-chan and the shadows.

“Alright then, if everyone’s safe then I want to head to the-wait...” you exclaim and hold up the broadcast crystal, “Someone get this to Artemis at a neutral location. I want to take a look at it with him later and figure out what kind of old world tech the enemy is using,”

Jadeite Knight steps forward, shrouding the crystal in an opaque illusory bubble as you’re presenting it.

“Everyone else is feeling accomplished tonight, so this one’s on me,” Midori affirms in responsibility reaching into her illusion and taking grasp of the device, “you were saying?”

Passing the crystal so bubbled off, you feel the white noise within the bubble off the ends of your fingertips.

“Right, I’m going to go check in on Kairi and the Shadow Girls at the safehouse. Maybe figure out a few things to sell for my enemy loyalty mission without staging a full fight,” you muse aloud while considering the rest of the evening, “I’ll meet up with everyone later at the Crowne if Ranko’s welcome party and celebration of this completely spiraled operation is still going on,”

“You said they had a natural aversion to you, is that a good idea?” Koito questions as the regalia of Jadeite Knight whisps off of Midori like so much smoke.

“We’re gonna have to deal with that one way or another,” you reason and check the comm you’ve been given, “Crowne Base Manager can you patch me through to the New Sailor Pluto?”

“This is Crowne Base, we did not have a comm unit to issue the new asset,” Yeon’s voice chimes in your ear, “I can forward a message or connect you to one of the girls with her though, they’re still en route to base,”

“Tell her I want to talk later. I need some help with an idea to help out with my infiltration of the enemy. Something to do with what she does in her spare time,” you smile to yourself as a plan begins to percolate in your mind.

“Will do, with operations concluded, is there anything else I can do for you?” the veterinarian student and arcade manager turned guy in the chair(well guy at the standing console) offers.

“No, we’re good. I’ll swing to base with everyone after I check in at the safehouse,”

“Roger that,” somewhere behind him you can hear Saori screaming out not to worry, she took her own pictures and sourced some social media pictures from the chaos at the park.

There is an unfamiliar tone as your new comm goes dead and you remove it from your ear. Waving to the others you begin roof hopping toward the Tomoe Institute safehouse. In this stealthy night you are no one of consequence, and entirely invisible when the need suits you.

Which is to say most of the time.

“Well, that was wild,” text on your phone to your Master at Arms, barely containing your smile, “How was it running with the Winter Wolf?”

>>4449642
Hisako Ito’s old moniker still holds weight in the world of Tokyo delinquents and street fighting. You imagine getting to fight alongside her must have at least been a treat for the Russian boxer. Regardless of state of dress.

“The fight was fun, I understand the necessity of the disguise, and for your information I’ve already changed,” he is...brusk, putting questions in your mouth about his look before you even asked them.

“Are you okay, Sasha?” you question in a quick typed message before the follow up, “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I know this isn’t your first supernatural fight, but after last time…”

At the tower…

Sasha is typing, not typing, typing again, and it takes a few beats of reflection for his reply to come.

“I’m fine. Not the fine people use when they aren’t fine,” you aren’t sure if he seems to be more relaxed or standoffish, maybe serious? “After this stunt I am a little more worried about what they’re going to pull at the tournament. Though I’m surprised this Hematite turned tail. Like fighting wasn’t the objective anymore. Are you okay?”

“Absolutely, I actually feel kind of great. I was positive things would work out and...and they did,”

“Power of teamwork, spreads the weight...anyway, is it alright if I swing by to talk to you after school tomorrow?”

There’s no reason to deny a friend dropping in.

“Sure, I’ll see you a little into club time,” you offer him and continue on your way as he says he’s heading home to get himself sorted after the fight and have dinner with his host family.

It takes a bit of time, but you make it to the Tomoe-institute safe house. A nondescript house in a neighborhood of Tokyo’s Setagaya City. Resuming your normal clothes, you approach the house after a lengthy but not too tiring rooftop run. Greeting you at the entrance is someone you recognize in passing, an older fellow said to be the Tomoe Institute’s head of security. A soft spoken fellow who usually doesn’t give his name and conducts matters with a firm glare when needed.

When you were a younger and less respectable person, you would call him Oldman Toad behind his back. He offers you a nod and leads you in beyond a staged entrance hallway to a sliding door into the proper living room.

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>>4449643

Opening the door, you find yourself looking at Kairi-chan’s back as she looks down exasperated at an utterly demolished spread of takeout left in ruin across a coffee table. Above you hear the hiss of running water.

“Hey, Mikage,” your Nephrite Knight turns to face you, momentarily surprised you are out of your field outfit already, “They’ve just gone upstairs to get cleaned up. Yeon said you were on your way. I would have saved you something but I think I would have lost a hand if I tried,”

“They’re living up the opportunity not to be in the sewers I see,” you laugh to yourself.

“Oh, entirely. Though the Swordswoman wants to speak to whoever is in charge,”

“Wonderful,”

>Wait here for them to come back downstairs
>Might as well head up and find them, make sure they haven’t tried to book it
>Paranoia, wait on the roof
>write in

Plus two open things to consider
>What do you want to say to these girls?
>What do you want to talk to Kairi about?

>>4449645
>>Wait here for them to come back downstairs

They may still be skittish. Meet them on their terms.

I will think about the other two questions or see what everyone else offers up.

>>4449645
>>Paranoia, wait on the roof
Don't want to spook them by going up, and we can be informed if they come down on their own.. but a little healthy paranoia is the attitude that helps us watch over others.

>What do you want to say to these girls?
>What do you want to talk to Kairi about?
Discuss with Kairi her impressions of the girls and what approach may work best.
Leaning toward being straightforward and honest as possible.. and if Kairi revealed herself to them, it would be a short trip to figure out her best friend is involved anyway.

On the upside, they were mainly attacked by us in a Dark Lady form, and was in Red-Eyed mode before that, so Eclipse and Mikage will be more likely reassuring, along with possibly our Nymph's Kiss variant.

>>4449645
>>Wait here for them to come back downstairs

>>4449643
>Wait here for them to come back downstairs

>>4449645
>Wait here for them to come back downstairs

>What do you want to say to these girls?
Try to be open, try to be honest, it's the most we can do.

>>4449645
>Wait here for them to come back downstairs
>What do you want to say to these girls?
Find out how they’re doing, then answer their questions.

Writing. Update sometime tonight.

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>>4451295

“Well, might as well wait for them to get down then,” you nod and turn toward the mess, “You did fantastic getting them here, my Knight,”

“Yeah,” she smiles to herself a little, “I’m gonna get this cleaned up. They only just went upstairs,”

You have an instinct to be a bit paranoid about those girls...but you think better of it. You’ve been through enough. As Kairi sets about cleaning up, you fall in step to help her out. Getting caught up on her end of the mission and what her encounter with the girls was like.

It leaves you a bit apprehensive, all that they’ve been through and the kind of leap of trust it must have actually taken to get them to agree to go with her.

“I relied on her memories as Nakajima,” Kairi-chan explains, “To trust that I knew what she was going through and that I could help,”

Well, you’re in this to be open and honest, so you let your disguise field fall away.

“Then I should meet this with the same level of openness,” you offer and sigh briefly, “It was close down there, wasn’t it?”

“I wasn’t sure how we’d have done together against that monster. Especially in the close confines of the tunnel. I got them to follow and I got them out. It was the mission and we walked away from it,” she smiles beneath her mask.

“Well, I’m glad about that. Koito managed to clean house with that guy,” you nod firmly, “Though the way Yeon and Saori-chan described it to me on a play by play made it seem like a stalemate that broke,”

“I liked Midori’s touch there with my illusory double,” she nods, “Made things feel more complete,”

Finishing clearing away the decimation upon the coffee table, a figure begins down the stairs. Wearing Tomoe Institute branded sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt she regards the two of you with a towel draped over one shoulder as she dries her hair with the other end in her off hand. She pauses to regard the two of you, and huffs.

“I should have known you were involved in this,” the woman who is not Momoko Nakajima considers before walking around the couch to size you up, “The question is though, how deep?”

“The deepest, I believe you go by weapons of choice, right Ms. Blade?” you offer a hand, “I know you know who I am, but my name is Mikage Chiba and it’s nice to meet you,”

She regards you carefully, and you’ve allowed your walls down enough to let her not just know who you are but catch a scent of what you might be.

“It’s nice…” she looks over at Kairi-chan who offers the darker pink haired a pair of thumbs up, “It’s nice to meet you, why do I get the sensation that you’re something like us,”

“Because I am,” you shrug as she takes your hand, “They didn’t get the chance to change me into a monster, I accepted the darkness they tried to turn me with. Once or twice I may have lost control but otherwise I’ve got it on lock,”

>>4451693
“Lost control? Is the Tomoe Institute helping you with this as well?” she questions and then instantly becomes defensive, “Not that I think I need help beyond just a roof over our heads for a few nights to figure this out,”

“Blade…” whines a voice from the top of the stairs, as the green haired girl you know as Shield peaks out from around the corner, “Don’t treat like this…”

The girl before you is silent. Her pensive expression reminds you only distantly of the template of a person off who she is based. By body language, cadence, and general demeanor she is unlike the Momoko you know.

“They’re helping me, and I’m helping them. Even before this specific affair started my family and the Tomoe family have history. Think of me as a direct student of Tomoe-sensei,”

“Anyway...are you a go between for the Boss lady? I assume the Headmistress has gotta be in charge, right?” questions the blade.

“She is in charge of the institute,” you explain, “and she’s extending this hospitality to you both as a relative of one of her students and as a favor to me,”

Kairi-chan sits down on the couch to watch this unfold, crossing one leg over the other, as her uniform shatters off of her in rapidly disappearing fractals of glittering sequins.

“Okay...why the hell are you in charge then,” Blade seems momentarily confused, there’s probably a building sense of frustration, “Why was helping us a favor?”

“Because I discussed it with Nephrite Knight behind me along with the others who swore to me as vassals,” you smile.

“...your knights? Your knights who are all named after important dead guys to the guys who want us dead or brought back to heel. Dead guys, some of whom publicly fought the OG Sailor Moon in the year that didn’t happen?” she seems concerned, “Is this a rival magical bad guy faction thing? Are you some kind of Dark Queen or something trying to muscle in on- no...then why would the Knights be supporting the new Sailor Senshi?”

“On my worst day I think I could have been a dark queen,” you sigh and slump into the couch next to Kairi-chan, “Look, I want to stop the bad guys. I want to support the Senshi. And I want to help you girls live new lives as close to normal as can be offered all things considered,”

Blade sits, slowly, on a comfy chair in the same style of the couch closing the space in an L configuration. More eyes join Shield at the top of the stairs.

“You can all come down,” you offer to the three girls, “I won’t bite,”

You pause and laugh. It genuinely feels good to be helping them, but you feel a swell of sadness for how distrustful they are.

“Seriously, I promise this time I won’t bite, and I’ll even help get you some nice shoes,” you call up to them and consider continuing trying to be playful, “but mine are still off the table, okay?”

>>4451695
It somehow makes it easier to be honest in this situation. Open. You wonder if this is a lingering side effect of Keiko’s hypnotism to help you with your panic attack. Not that you’d complain about feeling good and hopeful...but it doesn’t feel entirely right. Could still just be the trauma born mental illness pushing back against recovery in general?

Spear rockets down the stairs and lands with a crouch on the back of the couch with both feet and one hand. The other points at you in an accusatory manner.

“You were the girl who said No!” she accuses, “How was she the girl who said no?”

“I’m more concerned about the statement regarding biting, if we could please loop back around to that,” Axe considers as she descends in a more sedate manner, Kairi-chan places a hand on your shoulder.

“Like I said. That was a loss of control. That’s what their darkness did to me, made me something that can eat up the stuff the four of you are partially made of,” you admit as you seriously lean forward.

“...but you strike me as having been involved with this before that,”

“Guilty, and I’ll share my guilt if you’ll trust me, if you’ll let me help you, and if you’ll help us stop them from being able to hurt people again like they hurt your progenitors and have tried to hurt you,” you explain simply and earnestly and glance over to Kairi-chan, “Please,”

There is a long and drawn out quiet as Shield descends. The four girls gravitate toward one another naturally, they are each other's life preservers. A filial security in presence and number.

Finally, after consideration, Blade speaks.

“For now, we’ll stay here. We need to talk amongst ourselves about whatever this is going forward. Save the offer of what you’re actually considering to do for then, as your confirmation to us or a hail mary,” she explains and crosses her arms to look away, so closed off compared to how open Nakajima-san is, “But for what it’s worth, for whatever our final decision is...you have my confidence, and my thanks, Chiba-san,”

Details for later, then. And a hint of the girl you know in her finish.

Thanking them for seeing you, and relatively secure in the knowledge they intend to keep their word, you and Kairi Osaka depart the safehouse to head back to the Crowne Arcade.

>Lavish your Nephrite Knight with praise for the mission
>you’re uncertain of how things will go next
>Gush at Kairi-chan about the new Pluto being adorkable
>Drop the facade, if it is one, you’ve actually been quite anxious about each step tonight
>Ask her thoughts on Hematite’s pirate broadcast, and your subsequent respiration
>Write in

>>4451698
>Lavish your Nephrite Knight with praise for the mission
>Ask her thoughts on Hematite’s pirate broadcast, and your subsequent respiration

>>4451698
>Lavish your Nephrite Knight with praise for the mission
>Gush at Kairi-chan about the new Pluto being adorkable
>Ask her thoughts on Hematite’s pirate broadcast, and your subsequent respiration

All of this!

>>4451698
>you’re uncertain of how things will go next
>Gush at Kairi-chan about the new Pluto being adorkable
>Drop the facade, if it is one, you’ve actually been quite anxious about each step tonight
Let's do these now, and the other two when we arrive. And maybe more on the new girl's adorkableness, too.

>you’re uncertain of how things will go next
>Gush at Kairi-chan about the new Pluto being adorkable
>Drop the facade, if it is one, you’ve actually been quite anxious about each step tonight
Let's do these now, and the other two with everyone after we arrive. And maybe some more gushing over the new girl, too.

>>4451731
>>4451735
Ugh, site glitched out on me. Sorry, guys.

>>4451738
Figured. That is the wonder of these IP tags. Frankly if I had a nickle all the times I thought /tg/ ate a post but it actually posted back in the day I'd have a few bucks.

>>4451698
>Drop the facade, if it is one, you’ve actually been quite anxious about each step tonight
>Ask her thoughts on Hematite’s pirate broadcast, and your subsequent respiration

>>4451698
>>4451731
This.

>>4451698
>>Gush at Kairi-chan about the new Pluto being adorkable
>>Ask her thoughts on Hematite’s pirate broadcast, and your subsequent respiration

>>4451698
>Drop the facade, if it is one, you’ve actually been quite anxious about each step tonight
I think we did the right things, and we did them quickly.. but if things had gone a little wrong, it could have gone terribly wrong. Mercury bouncing around untransformed, if a trap had been laid on the rooftop.. or if there was a trap and we haven't figured it out yet.., if someone had been hurt, etc. I'm not saying panic attack, but I am saying we probably just experienced some of the weight of responsibility of being an heir to this legacy that isn't just risking our own life rescuing people. . Then again, we did jump back in to help mitigate the risks our growing family of guardians and knights faced.
>Ask her thoughts on Hematite’s pirate broadcast, and your subsequent respiration

>Write in
Concern for sister.
If Koito could tell she sounded wrong, Mikage should have noticed too.
There is a growing collection of red flags and odd behavior since touching our darkness.
May want to pull Koito and Koyomi in for the mental therapy/exploration Aiha was planning for us and make it a group session tonight.

>>4452092
This write in sounds good, too. I’ll back that in addition to my previous stuff. Hopefully not making things too complex for you, Artemis?

Not too complicated, just won’t really be able to parse and post this until money.

>>4457304
I'm guessing that's supposed to be be Monday?

>>4457375
No, it means he's holding the next story post for ransom. Give him money or we won't see it.

>>4457452
So I should pull a heist on the First Metropolis bank for the cash? What Could Possibly Go Wrong? ;P

On a serious note, Artemis brought up the idea of commissioning some art for this quest. Thoughts?

>>4457907
>On a serious note, Artemis brought up the idea of commissioning some art for this quest. Thoughts?
long overdue

>>4457909
Okay. I’m going to commission a piece.

A scene? Some of the quest’s expanded casts? The Four Heavenly Knights? George Takei in a JSDF dress uniform with a goddamn sword? Eclipse?

>>4457949
How about all of the above?

>>4457949
in order of priority
>Eclipse
>Knights
>Saori
>Keiko
>Mikage's other outfits

>>4457949
Four heavenly knights with their swords drawn sounds cool

>>4457949
Ooh ooh what about a drawing, or drawings, of the Battle at Tokyo Tower?

>>4457949
A formal portrait (read; they tried to be serious for the photo, but failed) of Mikage and her court sounds good.

>>4457949
The first full public gathering on that rooftop not long ago.

Okay, writing for tomorrow.

I got 6 or so for Ask thoughts on Hematite.
Five for drop the facade with some liked write ins
4 Gush about new pluto
two uncertains and two lavish knights.

Just gonna slam together those top three hits.

“So, what were your thoughts on Hematite’s broadcast,” you question of your knight as you stroll rather mundanely through the evening streets to the train, “And with things after I forced it to resume?”

She thinks for a moment, considering prior events.

“I think they were trying to make themselves about to be the good guys for sure,” there is a brief pull of bitterness to her voice, “Like they aren’t responsible for the suffering and death they’ve caused,”

She sighs, and trails behind you a bit.

“It...it upset me,” you turn to face her as she comes to a full stop, fists tight, “their presentation of being righteous. What you pulled after, even if I wasn’t there in anything but image...You undercut them hard and I’m proud to stand for that,”

“That was the plan,” she relaxes a bit and resumes walking forward, again alongside you.

“Though, Endymion lives at the end there was laying on a little thickly,” she provides with a smile and renewed bounce to her step, “But I bet it rattled them, maybe all the way up to whatever is in charge,”

Yeah. And rattling can lead to escalation. A familiar doubt and paranoia finally catches up to you. The smile and front you’ve been putting on before and during the action finally wanes. Confidence for the anxiety of each and every potential misstep of tonight for all its moving parts and potential complications. The facade drops and Kairi can see the shift in you immediately, and you feel so tired.

“Things could have gone wrong tonight...more so than usual,” you offer your Knight with a deep sigh, “So many steps, so many moving parts, and so many last minute changes,”

“We made it through at least,” she affirms from beside you.

“I felt like I was closing in on an attack most of the night, but not…” you don’t quite feel any better yet, “Like, I was constantly bracing myself for the worst to happen and thank goodness it never did,”

Briefly you linger in your thoughts on Koyomi and what Koito had said about her behavior before. That strikes you as odd but not enough to express just yet. Talking openly about that may mean something is happening, and after what happened to her you don’t begrudge your little sister a little uncertainty about her behavior.

And, she already proved herself capable of weathering the stress of your trauma as though it were a balancing force. Which still just confuses you.

“Hey, we’ve all got your back Mikage-chan,” Kairi places a hand on your shoulder and offers you a supportive smile, “And we have each other, all of us,”

“If you’re upset or shaken by the things Hematite said, do you need me to take that burden?” you question while defaulting to something you’ve unfortunately let define you.

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>>4461239
“No...no I’m not overwhelmed or anything,” she doesn’t huff but looks away a little embarrassed, “And, I’m feeling like I have a handle on things, helping those girls out...it made me feel good, as good if not better than things at the support group. Like, when we were clear of the scene I was laughing in relief good,”

Nodding along with her the two of you continue on toward the Crowne, managing to make one of the evening trains back into Juuban.

“We’re getting close to the end…not yet but it feels closer. More real,” you explain, because you feel like things are going to come to a head soon, “We’ve gathered our forces, they’re rallying their own. If this infiltration plan goes well I’ll probably be over there when it all comes down and out,”

“We’ll manage it. That’s what this is about, isn’t it,” Kairi-chan smiles, “That you’re able to rely on us, and together we can do what none of us can do alone,”

“Speaking of,” you smile a little, “The new Pluto is adorable. Meioh-san totally hid her secret home life from everyone and this girl is good people...even if she said Eclipse was derivative and unoriginal,”

“Oh, she already had opinions on the happenings in Sailor Senshi land?”

“Once again my prolific online life is paying dividends. Turns out I follow her, she manages a cryptid and urban myth reposting account,” you laugh, “So, now she’s about to be inundated with actual supernatural shenanigans and horror- wait, that doesn’t sound nearly as entertaining out loud as it did in my head,”

“No, of course it wouldn’t,” Kairi-chan laughs at your realization more than she does at you, at least you think she does.

“Point is, I’m excited she doesn’t have to go it alone and she seems like a real good kid,” you sigh, “and I get why Meioh-san was keeping her at arms length from everything. Though it really threw a wrench into our works,”

The train comes to a stop, you’re only a few blocks from the Crowne. You still want to go there. You still want to see the others.

Though, waiting for you outside of the arcade are Koito, Midori, and Hisako.

“Aw, you guys waited for us,” Kairi observes with a smile.

“Well, yeah. It’s cooler to all arrive together, right?” Koito shrugs and kicks up off of the bike rack he had been sitting against.

“And we wanted to offer you congratulations on a fantastic exfiltration after having already congratulated each other one and all for a forward facing fight,” Midori claps Kairi on the back and then throws her arms over both her and your shoulder, “And I’m generally still so pumped from that entire thing,”

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>>4461241
“Still frustrated I didn’t get a sword scar yet,” Hisako sighs and puts out a cigarette before looking up to the light polluted sky with a relaxed and wistful smile, “That’s some badassery I can lean on for the rest of my life. Something to brag about to and awe my grandkids with one day,”

Coming from her, that smile is a bit unnerving. Wait.

“You want grandkids, Ito-san?” you question with some surprise.

“Yeah,” she tilts her head down to look at you and everyone else who also seems surprised by her assertion, except for Koito who is nodding along with her like he’s heard this before, “Is that so weird. When you’re out of highschool you gotta start looking at the long term,”

“I just don’t think any of us were expecting that,” Kairi explains.

“Just because I’m not boy crazy or in the middle of some kind of drama,” she sighs in response and looks askance embarrassed that such a thing from her phased everyone versus her usual stuff, “People can have complexity and romantic dreams without being overblown about it,”

“I’m specifically surprised because of how you were flirting with Chiba before and after your fight at the show,” Midori explains her position and disentangles herself from you and Kairi.

“That’s got nothing to do with it,” Hisako shrugs toward Midori.

“Alright then,” it’s Midori’s turn to look a little embarrassed as she steps toward the automatic doors, “Let’s GO!”

As you course through the arcade and wait for your opportunity to enter the secret portals, you learn that Sasha had arrived long enough to change out of his disguise and book it for school. Apparently he had an early appointment with a trainer at his school’s gym in the morning.

Into the secret Karaoke room, there is a chorus of celebration from the others. Ranko making waves as the new girl having dragged a nervous looking Rin onto the lounge’s stage with her for some bubbly pop song or another about the future.

Auntie Setsuna and Tomoe-sensei stand off to the side observing things in a very responsible chaperone fashion, there is no sign of your substitute teacher.

You still have energy for baseline interactions, though you aren’t sure how you’d do pushing yourself or tearing yourself across the entire room...

>>4461242

Try to do too many things and you will probably have a panic attack. ALL the things is guaranteed, but where will you make it to before hand? What to do, Mikage, what to do?
>Talk to Koyomi
>Talk to Koito, about how he did & some of your observances of Koyomi
>Talk to Hisako, you clearly don’t know her quite as well as you could
>Keep monopolizing Kairi-chan’s time, about supernatural or mundane matters?
>Check in with Auntie Setsuna & Tomoe-sensei
>Saori told you she had pictures and you are extremely curious
>See how Yeon is dealing with his end of all of this
>are you feeling confident enough to try singing a karaoke song? Suggestions?
>Tell Kanari how proud she should be of her brother, and query about Koyomi
>Your Knight Marshal was Amazing tonight, chat with Midori!
>It’s getting late, chat with Venus before she has a bedtime.
>Wait for a chance to talk with Rin after her song is wrapped.
>Wait for a chance to talk with Ranko after her song is wrapped.
>You want to continue your earlier conversation with Aiha.

>>4461244
>Talk to Koito, about how he did & some of your observances of Koyomi
>Talk to Hisako, you clearly don’t know her quite as well as you could
>Wait for a chance to talk with Ranko after her song is wrapped.
>See how Yeon is dealing with his end of all of this

Plan talk to those having their first forays tonight.

>>4461244
>>Talk to Koito, about how he did & some of your observances of Koyomi
>>You want to continue your earlier conversation with Aiha.
>>Wait for a chance to talk with Ranko after her song is wrapped.
Bring Aiha in too. Online friend squad.

>>4461244
>Talk to Koito, about how he did & some of your observances of Koyomi
>Talk to Hisako, you clearly don’t know her quite as well as you could
>You want to continue your earlier conversation with Aiha.

>>4461244
>>Check in with Auntie Setsuna & Tomoe-sensei
>>Wait for a chance to talk with Ranko after her song is wrapped.
>>Saori told you she had pictures and you are extremely curious
what was the effect of casting Regenerate on Pluto in thread 156?

>>4461244
>Check in with Auntie Setsuna & Tomoe-sensei
>Talk to Koito, about how he did & some of your observances of Koyomi
>You want to continue your earlier conversation with Aiha.
Plan some group therapy.
And Koito along may help with Koyomi and another guy may help with Dan.

>>4461281
>>>Wait for a chance to talk with Ranko after her song is wrapped.
>Bring Aiha in too. Online friend squad.
Lurk friend meetup sounds like relaxing note to wrap up on.

>>4461244
>Talk to Koito, about how he did & some of your observances of Koyomi
>Check in with Auntie Setsuna & Tomoe-sensei
>See how Yeon is dealing with his end of all of this
>Wait for a chance to talk with Ranko after her song is wrapped.
>You want to continue your earlier conversation with Aiha.

5 Koito
2 Hisako
5 Ranko
2 Yeon
4 Aiha
3 Setsuna and Hotaru
1 Saori

So, it looks like you're going to talk about Koito about Koyomi while waiting to chat with Ranko, then while still talking to Ranko you're gonna try to rope Aiha into it before continuing your earlier talk. If you have the energy remaining after all that we'll see if you can work your way through the Chaperones, Hisako, Yeon, and Saori.

Give me two Will Reaction tests.

dice+2d20 best of three for each roll; 1's and 20's wild.

I'll be adding Mikage's bonus after.

Rolled 16, 1 = 17 (2d20)

>>4465104

>>4465146
Oh fuck.

>>4465146
>>4465280

Well, that's the second will reaction test lest you can cancel it out with a 20 in the next two rolls. However the first one also needs two more rolls.

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Rolled 20, 14 = 34 (2d20)

>>4465104

Rolled 16, 12 = 28 (2d20)

>>4465104

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>>4465284
>>4465450
Can we shore up against the 1 on 2 with the 20 on 1?

Set up and writing.

They were two will reaction tests to Mikage's building stress and loss of energy. Let's face it this has been a bit of a day.

So. Writing.

>>4466527
This was me.

Looking up at the stage, you want a chance to chat more with the newest addition to the team, and go over with her how best to use her entirely mundane powers to help you defraud the enemy into believing your ruse that you’ll have defeated and consumed the four shadows they’ve tasked you in the guise of another identity of pursuing as part of a loyalty mission.

Though, she is in the middle of a wonderful duet where she seems to be forcing Rin-chan a bit out of her more insular shell on the lounge’s stage so you know you’ve got some time to kill.

Scanning the room, your eyes settle on your youngest Knight, Koito Kino. He is chatting with his sister, Kanari, about something or other before she breaks off to throw an arm around your own younger sister’s shoulder and begins loudly offering something about her behavior in the field being badass today.

Approaching the boy, you find him offering you a smile and a wave as he sets down a cup of something or other left out as refreshment by the secret lounge’s resident base manager.

Glancing back to the stage at approach, you catch sight of Midori and Keiko dancing to the admittedly fantastic rendition Ranko was belting out with Rin as the others fill the floor or find their purchase of observation or comfort in the room.

Admittedly you feel a little uncomfortable, no that isn’t right.

“Hey, Koito, do you have a minute,” you ask as you lean against the wall next to the young man.

“Yes, what’s up?” he responds a bit surprised that you’re singling him out, though otherwise he quickly reasserts his sense and presentation of poise.

“I just wanted to hear more about how things went for your fight,” you shrug and then offer him a smile, “I’m really proud of you for stepping up like that,”

“Well, thanks,” he smiles and then hums to himself, “It was someone who was lonely, and the darkness forced their loneliness into a selfish obsession with collecting people to share a twisted and all consuming love,”

“A common theme among the monsters the enemy is making, though that just might speak to a broader human problem with any form of love and it’s lack in general,” you nod, “I’m sorry, please continue,”

“Well...It was resistant to most weapons and physical attacks. I was making some progress against it with electrical discharge and save for the one time it got me good it was too slow to really lay hands on me,” he considers, “It would scoop people up and I think something happened to them in there, turning people into these servitor things inside it so it wouldn’t be alone,”

There is a twinge of upset that moves across Koito’s face before it settles.

“I feel sorry for the man, and can’t help but pity his monster,” he sighs, “Ultimately, after the JSDF showed up, I figured out a trick with its body and disabled it with a fire hydrant long enough to purify it outright,”

>>4466632
“One of the things I was going to ask you about, you have powers of purification?”

“It’s part of the title as Zoisite Knight, he tells me it’s a power he’d forgotten under Beryl’s sway and very similar to the slow charge one you learned early on,” he explains and tugs on the necklace beneath the collar of his shirt as he explains some of his mentor’s power.

What comes next starts as a low lump in your throat.

“So...there was something else I wanted to talk to you about,” you are careful to broach this subject, “but have you noticed anything strange about Koyomi recently?”

He goes still beneath your scrutiny and concern.

“Of course I have, I heard her during the broadcast,” he glances to the floor and then back over to you, “it was something in her voice, but it was honestly more in line with what I expect of her compared to how she went after Kanari’s bully,”

“Offering succor, being kind?” you question, “As opposed to coming across as dangerously unhinged? Like this morning?”

“Entirely, as I’m given to understand it she did that based on your advice too,” Koito hums.

“I only told her to protect her friend without a second thought,” you sigh, “The rest was...all her and I’m still reeling from the second hand account honestly,”

“It was...it was something to see. I plan to talk to her about it later,” he says with a decided absolution, “If only to understand her reasoning,”

After a few more words are exchanged you break away from him as Ranko steps off the stage and she and Rin break away as Koyomi drags Kanari up with her and begins to cackle whilst punching numbers into the Karaoke queue.

“Meioh-chan, have a minute!” you question the younger girl, still new to you but offered an honorific of affection and friendship, or denoting yourself a senior in the friendship because of the breadth of age and experience between you.

Between the two options you aren’t quite sure which one fueled your use of chan. You’ve gotten to her before any of the others could try to scoop her up for attention and conversation of her newly arrived presence and friendship.

“Hey!” she skips over to you, “What can I do for you, oh mysterious homage hero Eclipse,” she questions while shoving hands into the pockets of her hoodie in a comfortable manner.

“I was wondering if you could help me with something,” you question while smiling confidently and conspiratorially, “As @spookywon,”

“Is it something that can risk the reputability of my work?” she questions uneasily to your smile.

“It shouldn’t be, we’ll stage some illusory scenes of it for you to do a few reposts. Long story short I need you to help me defraud the enemy into believing my infiltration. How much do you know about the primary targets of tonight’s operation?”

>>4466633
“Before I stumbled into things?” she huffs a little, “Sorry about throwing carefully laid plans into chaos there... I know that they’re enemy defectors? Turned or made against their will?”

You catch her up on the small details of your plan to use the identity as The Red Eyed Beast to infiltrate the enemy by making it seem as though the shadow girls so rescued were defeated and drained by the ravaging street punk’s apparent supernatural hunger. She understands her role in selling it.

“I’m just happy you’re involving me in stuff like this like, right off the bat,” she muses aloud and gets wistful, “I mean we’ve literally only just met but you’re all willing to trust me with this stuff,”

“Well, you’re one of us, and despite the secrets she kept I trust your mom to have raised a great girl, besides,” you pull out your phone, “We’re already friends, right,”

You message her over lurk thanking her for everything, and being there for your bullshit. She looks down at her phone and smiles.

“Yeah, I guess we are then,” she laughs, “Even if you’re a bit spookier than me,”

“More than a bit,” you offer, “When I want to be. Wait!”

“What?”

“Aiha-chan!” you call over and then grab a passing by Aiha, “I declare us an online friend squad!”

“Ah! Mikage!” Aiha jerks, “You almost made me drop my snacks!”

“Yeah, but we’re the online best friend squad!” you declare in a bemused and playful fashion as you sequester the two of them aside.

“Is this normal?” Ranko questions to the blue haired girl.

“I mean, sometimes Mikage gets overly familiar and happy after being in a very serious mood,” she offers, “I think it’s a coping mechanism, or a rumbling ahead of her own issues,”

“I’m right here,” you momentarily grouse and then sigh, “But there is no denying I have issues. Speaking of which I was wondering about when you would want to sit down and try to help me with mine like we were discussing, and vise versa,”

“I mean, I don’t think this will be a fast thing,” Aiha explains, rather she more considers, “Either for helping you come back together or getting me more comfortable opening up to my own potential,”

“I have very little idea of what’s going on right now,” Ranko offers between the two of you.

“I have magically aided/induced personality schisms,” you gestures broadly at your face, “And Aiha isn’t comfortable going all out psychically,”

“Well, that’s a very distilled but unexplanatory breakdown of the situations, yes,” Aiha sighs.

“I mean, it’s enough to catch me up,” Ranko shrugs.

“I’m going to suggest we’ll need Saturday afternoon or something. The weekend should be ideal if things take longer than expected. I foresee complications,” Aiha nods firmly.

>>4466636
“You foresee complications? I thought that was Rin’s department,” you sigh and slump your shoulders a little and then wince guiltily as you aren’t looking forward to Aiha realizing you’re Dan, “Yeah, I get it. My head isn’t going to be an easy thing to get sorted,”

“I’m not just referring to exploring your problems. I’m relatively sure my own issues will take some time to work through. The question is where we should work on it,”

“Well, given your explosive telekinetic potential in the middle of things,” you muse, “Shielded room in Tomoe-sensei’s secret lab? She has those,”

“Should be fine, I’ll ask her about tha-”

“I’ll take care of it, she was next on my socializing hit parade!” you declare with some excitement before turning from the girls with certain giddy vigor.

“Is...is she going to be okay?” Ranko asks Aiha as you retreat, “She seems so different from earlier,”

“Yes, she gets like this sometimes. It shouldn’t be too serious though. The attention I’m paying her right now I’ll notice if she starts spiraling toward an episode,” Aiha sighs.

“Episode?” Ranko questions as you fall out of earshot, you really don’t want to explain that part of your issues to the new kid right now, as much as you appreciate and adore her and her wonderful possibilities.

For now, it’s her mother and Tomoe-sensei who you need to check in on. You’re beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by the scene at large, but you pause and take a calming breath. Ranko did notice even though she hasn’t known you long...or perhaps because she hasn’t known you long. You’ve gotten a bit too excitable, and excitement for weal or woe can drop you into panic attack city or other mood drops if you aren’t careful.


>Nat 20 will reaction test

Finding your stability, calming yourself and finding your center and focus, you continue over toward Setsuna Meioh and Hotaru Tomoe.

“Auntie Setsuna, Tomoe-sensei,” you offer a bit calmer than compared to when you were talking to the others, “What did the two of you think of how we handled things tonight?”

“I think you handled everything splendidly,” your teacher offers softly and with no small hidden amount of pride, “You kept a level head against unexpected complications and I think managed to deal a telling blow against what they were truly trying to accomplish tonight,”

“To say nothing of the aid you rendered my daughter,” Setsuna glances up toward Ranko where she is reacting with visible concern and gesticulation to Aiha’s explanations of, most likely, you, “and myself in coming together tonight,”

“It was nothing, Auntie Setsuna. Say, how’s your leg doing since I laid in with that regeneration?” you question.

>>4466638
>>4466638

“It’s doing much better now. I appreciate the expenditure of magic. I admit I had been avoiding supernatural mendings out of concern that it was some kind of lingering if cursed wound....” she glances guiltily over toward Tomoe-sensei who sighs with an unexpectedly amused smile, “but thank you for sorting it. Thank you for everything tonight, Mikage,”

Under the older Sailor Guardians’s praise you find yourself feeling a bit proud and embarrassed before returning to more pertinent matters.

“What did you think of Kinzoku-sensei, Sailor Papillon?” you query of the two.

“That she can be trusted,” Setsuna offers with a serious expression.

“That she has overcome guilt in her past,” Tomoe-sensei sighs, “And I agree with Setsuna-ma- I agree with Setsuna’s assessment of her trustworthiness,”

“Glad to hear...say, would it be okay if Aiha and I used one of the shielded chambers in your lab Saturday? We want to take a crack at helping me get whole...and helping her cut loose...psychically?”

Tomoe-sensei considers this a moment.

“That should be fine, but know I’ll be keeping an eye on the two of you,” she offers simply.

“That should be fine” you smile, though a bit strained for reasons you’re uncertain of. Yeah, you definitely feel something coming on.

It’s just...not here yet and you’ve kept it at bay but it is getting closer.

“I’m gonna go back to being a social butterfly! Thank you both, truly!” you offer with a short bow and break back into the mass of the girls in the lounge.

You still have so much you want to do, but you know you’re running out of time. Even with a pil, which you do fish out of your bag preemptively, you’re worried about how this is going to hit, before you zero in on Hisako breaking away toward the snack table.

You’ll soon need a drink be it water, juice, or soda for your dose anyhow and you honestly realized you don’t necessarily know Hisako too well yet. Walking up beside her you go to pour yourself something as she scrutinizes the various gourmet looking cookies and sweats laid out.

“It's really too late for so many sweets,” she hums to herself as you take a sip of your drink.

“Well, you gotta consider that the majority of this spread is for the younger girls,” you muse to yourself as she takes the pitcher from you and pours herself some.

“Even though it's only a few years I feel generations apart. Though I’m definitely too young for the professional crowd over there. I feel the odd one out being so much older than everyone,” she sighs and then smiles before gesturing toward the assembly of the young Sailor Guardians as Venus-chan takes the mic, “Though thinking back to when we first met you totally passed for that age,”

“Power of my disguise,” you offer confidently in response.

>>4466639
“Not just in look,” Hisako takes a bit of a scolding tone before sighing at herself, “Then again I’m one to talk about maturity, right. I played right into your bait that night,”

“Well, to be fair, it wasn’t my bait,” you sit on one of the couches along the wall, “That was still...her bait,”

Briefly you glance down into the fruit punch and could swear you see the reflection of the beast instead of yourself, only to realize how much darker your hair reflects in the red liquid. Maybe you wanted her to be there, despite the notion that she is you.

“Yeah, gleamed a bit of all that from the others,” she sips and takes the seat next to you, “If that’s alright,”

“No, it’s fine. I expect it,” you sigh to your knight and look her over.

Despite the scars and perpetual scowl you’re used to seeing on the older girl, there is a concern to her features and a softness you don’t recognize. Well, you recognize it but it seems out of place on her face. There was more urgency to her concern for Hanako Minami. This seems...gentle. You’re reminded of her earlier want for grandchildren one day and how much you still have to learn about this young woman on the cusp of the age of majority.

“So, grandkids?” you smile.

She huffs.

“One day I just want to be a grandma. Mine was pretty awesome and I want to be that for my kid’s kids someday. And I guess that means yeah, I also want kids,” she nods firmly.

You think back to where this thread started, with the wistful comments about having a sword scar.

“Was your grandma someone badass enough to have a sword scar?” you question carefully.

“Yeah. If my dad was an old school martial artist then his mom was downright medieval. Yeah she had a sword scar, got it in India in the 70’s,” she smiles broadly at this, “It’s this great story if you’ve got the time,”


And you do, Hisako tells this ridiculous second hand tale of the woman from whom she was descended learning fighting styles abroad and getting roped into local intrigue and a rivalry between local and imported ruffians.

“So, it was a full brawl between this gang of british laborers and the local boys from the temple my mom had been training with and this one pair, a brother and sister who specialized in paired sword techniques, took the chance to tr to take her down a peg,”

Its an exciting story the way Hisako tells it, and as it goes on in a way you can only imagine would make for an excellent Bollywood flick, you feel the world falling away. Everything else in the room seems so far away. Even Hisako begins to fall away from you as the couch you share seems to stretch and distort. Your time slows.

This precipice, it’s the event horizon of a big one. And you’re practically there already. You raise a hand and take your pill before screwing your eyes shut.

>>4466641
“Hisako, I’m sorry to interrupt,” you don’t open your eyes as her voice sounds distant and there is a distinct ringing.

“You okay, boss?” she questions with that loyalty in her voice that you earned from her in blood and action.

>Will reaction test Nat 1. That 20 earlier gave you the prescience to prepare a pill and make a good decision here.

“I’m about to have a panic attack,” you explain, “Can you help me to the other room. I don’t want the girls to have their victory party derailed,”

You feel her take your shoulder without a word and guide you through a muted world quickly and quietly before you feel your knees give out beneath you. She helps guide you down to the padded mat floor of your own training room. The sound of Venus-chan’s music grows more distant as you do open your eyes and feel like you’re falling down a long and narrow pit. Your world above a pinprick of light you can’t fully make out.

This was the price of today, for shouldering this anxiety all through today’s successive madness.

And it all goes black.

You awaken some time later. Feeling rested but empty, and in your own bed. Diana sleeping in kitten form on your stomach, opening one eye as you stir and smiling that you’re alright before closing it and returning to a steady breathing pattern.

Well, you are on your own bed and above the covers. And in the clothes from yesterday. A thermos sits on your night table as you look out the dark window. It’s a little after 4:30 in the morning.

Well, it’s a new day.

>Morning exercise routine, if a little early
>Morning exercise routine, wake the littlest bunny
>Sleep a bit more, you earned it and deserve it
>Wake up and get started on your day, but go easy
>write in

&

>Anything specific to accomplish/focus on today, besides your meeting with Sasha after school?

>>4466643
>Sleep a bit more, you earned it and deserve it

Can't think of anything else at the moment.

>>4466643
>>Morning exercise routine, if a little early
not sure what's next on the to-do list

>>4466643
>Morning exercise routine, wake the littlest bunny

I want to see how she's doing

>>4466643
>>Morning exercise routine, if a little early
Let's kick things off. Cleaned up and ready to go.

Aiha was talking about weekend for getting together, what day are we on now?

Thinking through old backlog:
I believe we had looped Naru in about PIT and.. shit can't remember rich guy's company name.. being infiltrated by the enemy during a previous timeskip, maybe we can follow up with her now that we're approaching PIT more openly, get a feel for who she thinks we can trust.
Bring up Daybreak item idea. (Since that choice would have been awhile ago, would we have an initial charm for her ready?)

Boyfriend. We have one of those. We should spend some time with him, been backburnering him at school for a few days.

Did we still have any Earth Nodes we'd detected but hadn't investigated?

Figure out something with Koyomi's altered behavior.
Wait, idea!
>wake the littlest bunny
Take to morning exercise, jog out to the holy tree and heart to heart about behavior and concerns.
Openness, with a purifying backdrop.

>>4466643
>Sleep a bit more, you earned it and deserve it

>>4466799
>Boyfriend. We have one of those. We should spend some time with him, been backburnering him at school for a few days.
I've been corrected that the word "boyfriend" has not been formally used for Yoshi yet.
So I guess we should talk to him about that then.
While there's been long standing feelings, dates, salacious hand holding in public, and we stated future plans to Kairi to be with him (long term being grander plans to help the world).
>“Short term though, short term I think,” you smile and spread the uniform down on the table in front of you, finished its assembly, “I think I want to use all the free time I’ll have to have something with Yoshi,”
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2136519/#p2138895

We haven't actually spent much time with him since then, though not much free time either, some I'm going to lean into suggesting we correct that.

Also 138 is a good thread for feelings.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/681025/
Including that Saori is awesome.

I have also forgotten what day of the week it should be. Time to archive dive!

>>4467344
I think it is the end of the week. We had had a small time-skip has Mikage's knights forced her to take a little break because she was pushing herself to hard. They monitored the shadows in the mean time. I would figure it is a Friday or Saturday. If I were to hazard a guess.

>>4467396
Did we actually time skip for that? Seemed like we were playing through it. Crafting, talking to people, not going off on crazy missions again until the park thing came up.
Though it there was a skip in there, should have been some Yoshi time as well.

>>4467811
I would have to go through the threads again, but I was pretty sure that we were doing a few things but it was a fast-forward through that week.

Maybe we need an IC day planner/timeline keeper track thingy? I know at least one other quest I follow has one. Heck, that one has a whole wiki, but that might be a bit much for this one.

>>4467811
So I actually looked through and the plan on monitoring the shadows came up in thread 151.

>>4467848
A wiki wouldn't be bad either, at least to have a searchable database with everything in one place. But, yeah, some kind of planner as well as To Do List would be helpful.

>>4467344
>>4467396
I was wrong. Reading through the more recent threads, everything from when we talked with Papillion on the roof to the thread now has been Tuesday.

2 Sleep.
1 Exercise
2 Exercise w/Littlest Bunny.

Gonna tip this into favor of morning exercise routine and get to writing an update or two for today.

Nothing helps you feel better like a little activity and the comfort of routine. Pulling your sheets and comforter aside you swing your legs out and rise after carefully lifting Diana-chan up and setting her on your pillow. With a shuddering fold of space the small moon cat turns into a small pajama clad kid and without opening her eyes returns your bed to use as she steals the lingering warmth of your space covering herself in your blankets.

With a sigh you get to setting yourself together, there is a note underneath the mysterious thermos you think you’ve seen your sister carrying around once or twice. It’s some coffee from your Zoisite Knight. Apparently Hisako slowly got the rest of your knights to sneakily abandon the party to help move you once she realized you were pretty deep into this attack. The note is from Koito himself, letting you know they managed to get you home and he made sure to leave something to help give you a bit of energy when you started out today in case you were still feeling poorly.

Opening it, you can’t begin to describe the sweet and bitter aromas that assault your senses. Pouring a capful of the still warm drink you have some to get you going, which tastes smooth and divine, a few stray thoughts strike you.

Did they just cart your unconscious or unresponsive ass across town? Questions for later. You are half annoyed and half thankful they didn’t change you into your pajamas...you aren’t particularly fond of the feeling of having slept in your day clothes but are okay with having not been undressed by the lot of them.

Well, that’s for later, you turn your attention to the idea of dragging your sister back out into the early morning with you. You throw on your kit.

Striking into the room next door, freshly filled cap of apparently bespoke coffee in hand, you find your little sister quite pleasantly asleep. She sleeps calmly and soundly until you waft the cup under her nose.

“Mmmmm,” she murmurs to herself before rising and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “Mikage-nee?”

“Morning sis,” you offer with a smile.

She looks at you, already in your workout gear. She looks at the thermos in your hand. She looks at her clock. She looks out the window.

She sighs.

“Right, what’s the workout today,” there is a resignation but also some measure of happiness to her voice as she throws aside her covers and takes the cap and thermos from you before downing it’s contents in one pull as she rises and guides you out of her room, “You know what, just hit me with it. I’ll get dressed and meet you downstairs,”

…

You stand there as her door closes. Alright, that happened.

It opens again.

“And, in the future could you at least knock or something?” she downs another cap full, “You’ve built up this bad habit of just walking into my room in the morning,”

“How would you even know if I knocked or not while you’re asleep?” you question and cross your arms and she pouts.

>>4470920
“That’s not the point, gimme a second okay,”

“Right,” you sigh and head downstairs.

As you enter the living room, you catch sight of movement in the dark on the island in the kitchen. A figure looms over one of the cookie jars holding the last remnants of your and your mother’s last great act of tandem and competitive baking.

The small black haired toddler looks up at you, cookie in mouth and hand holding cookie jar up and aside. She looks at you and slowly moves the lid behind her back and pulls as much of the cookie as she can into her too small mouth before trying to toddle off where the island isn’t in your immediate line of sight.

“HEY!” you call out after the small probably magical child.

Acquiring the clone of Kalyke and returning the lid to the cookie jar, you carry the now fussy thief upstairs to the crib in your father’s room.

Your father is still asleep as you enter and set the child down.

“Go back to sleep, okay?” you beg of the child who looks up at you with wide and innocent red eyes.

“Buh?” she burbles in response.

“Listen you little sneak, I know you like to climb but that wasn’t safe, okay?” you question as she continues to stare before softly laughing and rolling onto the back amid stuffed animals and blankets, “Why do I even bother trying to scold you?”

Heading back into the hall you run into your sister in her gym kit and a wind breaker of her own. It is getting colder.

“Everything alright with dad?” she asks of you while you exit his room.

“Just putting Kalyke back to bed, she was downstairs in the kitchen. She got into the cookies,” you sigh, “Alright, I want to do a run and light jog this morning. Something with a bit of distance but to a really special spot, okay?”

“Sure,” she sighs while gesticulating and looking askance, “What’s that you said before about being routine will make this easier?”

“Yeah, you’re being awfully compliant on this?” you question as you lean into the younger girl, who meets your gaze and doesn’t flinch.

“Well, this clearly works for you and...and if I stop trying to resist this maybe I’ll get the things I need to be a stronger Sailor Moon,” she straightens up and meets your gaze with a seriousness you aren’t accustomed to from her, a determination, “Everyone is trying so hard, so why shouldn’t I?”

“...honestly sis, I’m impressed,” you smile at her and think of where you’re taking her, “Let’s go!”

You want to be open with your sister. You want to take her temperature and see how she’s doing. How she’s feeling, and maybe if she’s noticed anything about herself like you or Koito noticed about her yesterday.

During one of the lighter segments of your path today, before the sun has even lifted into the sky, you ask.

>>4470921
“So...even though we pulled...what did you call it, Double Princess Purification on you after you took some of my darkness, you’ve still being acting a bit,” you paused to consider how to word it, “I want to say...off,”

“If this is about what happened with Kujo-san,” she sighs, “I took your advice and thought about how you’d have dealt with it and then put my own spin on things,”

“It's not, well it isn’t just about that,” you power alongside her up a hill making your way toward the national garden, “Last night, just watching you out there had me a bit...I wasn’t the only one whose noticed all of this, okay?”

“Koito talked to me about it a bit after you bailed on the celebration,” she doesn’t huff, it isn’t bitter, but it’s that same resignation, maybe disappointment? “He left a bit conspicuously after Midori, Kairi, and Saori. Secret mission or did you have another panic attack?”

“Panic attack, I didn’t want to take you guys out of celebrating,” you explain honestly, “So I had Hisako walk me to the other room. Apparently she needed the others to figure out how to get me home,”

She nods, still huffing a bit beside you in exertion and trying to keep up with you.

“So, here we are, worried about each other for different reasons,” her disappointment shifts into a thin smile, like she was ready to have some doubt about your activities but is satisfied with you answer, “Koito’s questions had me doing something I’m not really good at,”

She admits and keeps pushing forward.

“Oh?”

“Being introspective,” she sighs and hangs her head a moment, losing step only to try and power back up to keep pace as you lighten your step a little, “And I think I figured out what’s going on...with both of us,”

Suddenly she’s an expert?

“Go on,” you offer as the two of you come upon the national garden where the holy tree awaits the two of you.

“We probably did get rid of the shadowy thing Aiha and Rin saw, but that wasn’t influencing my behavior. Probably just my dreams and my still new psychometry,” she sighs as you lead her down a specific chain of paths as the sun breaks across the skyline, “No, I think I definitely know what it was,”

She stops along the path, the cold fall wind picking at her work out clothes and fluttering in the sudden temperature change of sunlight cascading through the world.

“People deal with things differently...and I think I took the wounds of your trauma that night,” she explains and looks at you sadly, knowingly, “And when you bit me you took the things my magic took out of you back, but I still have them. My power takes the burdens of others, and when you take that kind of pain away from people it doesn’t stay gone for long...does it?”

You think of the nature of your feeding cycle with Kairi.

File: Sailor Sad.jpg (63 KB, 512x384)

63 KB JPG

>>4470922
“No...those negative feelings don’t stay gone for long,” but a spark hits you, “But I didn’t feel anything like that when I bit you?”

“Would you have even noticed your own pain coming home where it belonged?” she looks tearful and not bitter but... “I went to check up on you that night. I saw you laying there in the middle of an attack. It just makes sense,”

“So, the reason you’ve been acting weird is because this is how you’d deal with what I went through?” you question her logic, perhaps fearful that she’s right.

“Not weird and it isn’t how I’d react to going through what you did,” she casts her eyes down, “I’m dealing with wounds and the weight of this thing without the experience. And...and it’s left me driven,”

Koyomi takes a deep breath.

“To be better. To be stronger. To be able to protect everyone,” she looks up and right at you, “To be able to protect you, Mikage-nee, and not feel like I’m chasing after your memory,”

Looking straight into her eyes like this, you understand something. Something the experience of stealing your burdens did to your sister you hadn’t considered before. Something you saw not even an hour ago this morning looking into the eyes of a child that you’re accustomed to seeing in your sister’s eyes no matter how she feels. And underlying energy, you think, and maybe you can only quantify it like this because of your psychic abilities. Because of her own?

Innocence.

There is a rising flood of guilt inside of you, that this is somehow your fault. A confluence of pride in your sister’s resolve. A jealousy of how she’s so together over wounds she took from you. An anger at the idea that without thinking she did take a part of you that defined you as you are now. Sorrow and empathy over her own visible guilt in this moment.

Conflicting emotions…

How do you want to focus on feeling about this?
>Write in

How do you want to react to her about this?
>Reasonably
>Empathize
>Reservedly
>Poorly
>Write in

What next
>You came here to show her your place of power, the Holy Tree
>Time to turn this around now and finish the work out at home
>Write in

>>4470928
>How do you want to focus on feeling about this?
>>Write in
If I'm sad, I think Mikage might be a bit crushed.
We wanted not only to protect their lives, we wanted to protect their hearts and their smiles from the damage that made us.
And we failed in the worst way, with our sister imprinting that damage upon herself.
It wasn't due to anything we knew to plan fornor avoid, and kicking ourselves for being in a state she would try to help us in isn't fair to either of us.

>How do you want to react to her about this?
>Empathize
We can easily empathize we what she's feeling. Hell, she's repeating our own drives and goals back to us. (Chasing the memory of a sister sounds familiar too..)
Born from the same pain.
>Sadness
That last part is a point of sadness. We wanted to protect that innocence. Though we are
>Proud
with how she has handled it, skipping past the broken tangle of self brought on by the trauma finding that same drive.
..though finding our way back from that tangle is also how we learned to deal again..

I've run out of word budget this morning.
Something out heart to heart about this more and valuing her warmth and to not turn into a spooky bitch like some of what we've been. Please. Still lover her either way.
Possible followup with dad for Usagi stories or Venus for the power of unquenchable positity. (How much did the girls know about her condition?)

Maybe still have the chat in the shadow of the tree, don't need to explain it to her, now just becomes a safe place to sit and possibly have a good cry.
Or go straight to visit others. Or visit after
My brain may recover later and finish ductaping my thoughts together, please feel free to pick at them or pick out bits you like.

Merry Tuesday.

>>4470928
>How do you want to focus on feeling about this?
supporting the relevant part of >>4471256
>How do you want to react to her about this?
Empathize
>What next
You came here to show her your place of power, the Holy Tree
maybe ask about the hairclips, she got when she touched the node at Zodiac academy(?)

>>4470928
Yeah, agreeing with:
>>4471277

>>4470928
I’ll back >>4471277

Rolled 4, 2, 3, 5, 4, 5, 1, 2, 2, 3 = 31 (10d6)

Reaction Crushed.

Gimme a will reaction test.

dice+1d20+3

Best of 3, 1s & 20s Wild

Rolled 20 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4471555

>>4470928
It's painful, but now she understands a little of the worse parts of the world, it sounds like.
>You came here to show her your place of power, the Holy Tree
So let's remind her of the better parts too. The parts we fight for, and why it's important we never forget them.

If that makes sense to everyone else, I mean?

Rolled 6 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4471555

Rolled 17 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4471555

>>4465146
>>4465450
>>4471557
What is with the dice this thread?

>>4472028
Sometimes the dice come through for us.
Feel like we need a nat20 to survive this one.

>>4472085
Honestly, the dice gods have been very kind to us this whole quest. The players are more liable to fuck things up with stupid decisions than the dice screwing us in anyway. Most times there has been a bad roll it hasn't been during anything that would hurt too much.

>>4472085
Yeah, but 2 nat 20's and a nat 1 stands out. Still nowhere the craziest I've seen, but worth mentioning.

And so, it is a lovely twenty. Yeah this thread has had some banger rolls for certain.

This thread will hopefully have 2-3 more updates before it falls ofd board in the week what starts tomorrow. I’m busy with an imminent move, things being busy at work, and spending time with someone special where I think things are going very well.

Your expression drops, it’s crushing to think that this happened. Practically the antithesis of everything you’ve struggled for in the past two months since returning to this life, even if at first only in the periphery. This is an entirely unexpected fail-state to your intentions and goals. This is your failure and it happened when you couldn’t have done anything about it, or did it happen because you weren’t strong enough to stay on your own two feet?

And she’s telling you like this, as a confession? Admission?

Like...like when you spoke telepathically to Venus-chan, you had no idea of or way to know the consequences of that moment. And neither did Koyomi when she used her power on you…

This was something you could never account for, and always pushing yourself to the point where you would even risk more panic attacks left you open for Koyomi to think she needed to use her powers on you…

>Nat 20, screw it you tank this with no harm to your emotional wall

As much as it hurts to think about, you won’t be phased. You won’t give in to panic or pain again now. For her and for yourself you’ll persevere through this revelation

“I never wanted you to feel those things,” you offer your sister softly over the distance between you, “I never wanted you to have to experience those things...to break like I did. I wanted to protect you,”

“Mikage-nee,” her voice is soft, understanding, “You can’t protect us from everything ever. And I didn’t experience it, I just have this feeling...like an old scar to remind me I guess. I mean, Osaka-san went over the forensics at the briefing so I know what happened, but it’s hardly the same as living it,”

Closing the distance between you in four quick steps you sweep your younger sister up in a tight hug. It feels...suddenly wrong to think of her as your baby sister, and you feel a great swell of guilt at that.

“You lost your innocence because of me!” you choke into her shoulder, trying not to sob.

“That’s...that’s a bit on the nose to say,” you aren’t looking at her face but you can hear the awkward smile in her voice as she pats the small of your back, “I mean, I’m fine, but I guess it’s...I don’t know its a stabilizing perspective. If you want that just to mean growing up, then sure,”

“I really don’t think it means just growing up, and...I understand...it broke me and I had to struggle for a long time before I got to the part where I was resolved to protect anyone other than myself,” you admit in understanding of the clarity of focus you eventually gained from your pain.

The two of you stand there for a bit. You’re slow to disengage the embrace but when you do, you see Koyomi in a different light than you’re used to. The way she spoke last night comes into greater focus. As someone who is trying to do their best to take responsibility for the things around them, to be a leader. To be a hero. To do what she thinks is right.

>>4479515
And, and no matter what you’re going to keep trying to protect her; but she isn’t just the child you left the Silver Crystal too that night so long ago. She’s a young woman. She’s like you in the end point but so unlike you in the way she reached it. Your sister meets your gaze as a peer, as an equal.

Stepping back, the hug slides into you holding both of her hands before you. It’s hard, but you let go when she speaks again to try and calm your upset.

“I’ll be okay,” she offers, “I didn’t want this to make you feel worse, Mikage-nee, I just wanted to be honest about it,”

“If it ever does hurt,” you offer with a seriousness to your features, staying fixed to her eyes, “You can come to me...I’ll listen, and I’ll understand,”

She nods, and you feel your hands fall away from her own. Is this how mom and dad felt when they took the training wheels off your bike as a little kid. Seeing you moving forward upright on your own? That’s not quite the same, you know you’re reaching and you know this isn’t something you’re quite at peace with yet.

This morning was supposed to be about something else though...and if not purification then something else.

“I...I wanted to show you something out here,” you explain and turn away from her, to lead on toward the tree in the garden, “Something important to me, a place where I drew power from the Earth,”

“A place where you draw power from the Earth?” she questions uncertainty, in repetition of your statement in a manner not unlike the dialogue of an American Manga-ka you're not overly fond of.

“I’ve been finding them, part of all the things I’ve been working on in secret...you’ve seen one already,” you explain as you move off the beaten path of the gardens and bid Koyomi to follow you, “Underneath Zodiac Academy. The enemy was trying to use it for something but I took it back,”

“Yeah, I saw it,” she reasons in a quiet moment of understanding, “When I touched the water it gave me new hair clips,”

“What do those do anyway?” you question as you duck through a shrubbery and hold the path clear for her to follow, the white rope bound holy tree visible through many yards of planned and partitioned trees.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you, they’re just kind of there and haven’t done anything yet,” she sighs and pauses, “I kind of feel it...over there right?”

“That’s right, just a bit further,”

The two of your course through the planned forest, you come to an instinctive stop at the edge of the barrier, but know the actual shadows inside of you that you had been eating are all reduced to the least they’ve been in a long time now...rather you feel as though you may approach safely without resulting to your little teleportation trick.

You claimed this place, after all.

Coming up to the tree, Koyomi a few paces behind you, you come to a pause.

>>4479519
“This place purged from me the last of the lingering darkness I had consumed...I’m still changed and capable of consuming it, but if I chose to this tree would mend those changes,” you explained as you lay a calm hand upon the binding ropes.

“Why haven’t you?” your sister questions, not uneasily but in direct curiosity.

“Because it’ll be useful for my infiltration plan,” you explain succinctly, “Or maybe because I’m not ready to let go of what this transformation means to me yet…”

She nods and walks up beside you. Unsure if she should reach out for the tree or not

>Say nothing, let her do as she will
>Ask her not to touch the tree, you don’t know how she’ll interact with it
>Ask her to to touch the tree, you believe in her maturity in handling more power
>Talk about why you’re not ready to let go of your current state, see what she’ll do
>Ask her something about the sleeping power she felt beneath her when she died
>Write in

>>4479519
>the dialogue of an American Manga-ka you're not overly fond of.
> ???

>>4479519
>in repetition of your statement in a manner not unlike the dialogue of an American Manga-ka you're not overly fond of.
Funny, it made me think of Metal Gear.

>>4479521
>Say nothing, let her do as she will

>>4479519
>“I honestly couldn’t tell you, they’re just kind of there and haven’t done anything yet,”
Should let us take a look some time, we're pretty decent with magical things and learning more about ancient widgetry.

>>4479521
>>Ask her something about the sleeping power she felt beneath her when she died
(Edit after typing most of this: Talking about the Chaos vessel aura right? If not call this a write in. Did she have a feeling about Earth power?)
The boy she keeps drawing, the one seen in visions and dreams. That was the other part of our concern for her change in behavior. Knowing it isn't the cause is good, but it does seem to be reaching out to us both and her a lot more than even us. Seems like a plan of the enemy is looking for a vessel, like with our formerly fossilized grandmother.

(Have we formally put 2 and 2 together yet? Between our vision of a POV inside an incompletely sealed pod with that face being covered in crystal while watching the ancient destruction, the Chaos infused crystal fossilizing the Queen, the focus on serving the ancient Earth kingdom the enemy seems to have, and the Chaos vessel's seeming affinity for us? The boy has to have been family. Some part of the old Elysium royal family caught in crystalized Chaos as Saturn burned everything, serving as host to the last remnant of that Chaos and manipulating remnants of the Royal Guard through that face..
*eyes narrow*
We really need to have a meeting with our Heavenly Generals, and dad if we can, and discuss who else the Royal Guard would have been with and see is Koyomi's drawing shakes any memories from them.)

>Write in
Position to the side, out of the way between her and tree, let her work out how/if to interact during any conversation.

>>4479521
>>Say nothing, let her do as she will

(not a vote) Ask her something about the sleeping power she felt beneath her when she died
I want to talk about that, but on in context whether she should touch the tree

>>4479702
Discussion and communication are never a bad thing. I think having the generals, Mikage, and Endymion having a formal meeting couldn't hurt.

>>4479521
>Say nothing, let her do as she will
>>4479775
Yeah, this doesn't feel like the wrong part of the conversation to jump in on that.

>>4479852
>>4479775
>I want to talk about that, but on in context whether she should touch the tree
I can agree with that.

>>4479702
>>4479521
Shift question to post tree interaction instead of aside.

>>4479521
>>4479775
>>4480325

Consensus!

WRITING

>>4480892
Bueno.

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>>4480636

>>4481081
There's a good reason some other sites compare quests to Geth.

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You say nothing to her, and just in this moment feel your connection to the intersecting ley-lines of the Earth’s power that rests here under your command. It offers you a sense of revitalization and calm, as it fills you with energy and dulls your hunger and need for negative emotions with something with much more sustenance.

Koyomi watches you with some trepidation, looking at the hand that she reached into those scintillating waters so few weeks ago to reach for a figure that she did not know was you beneath the surface. Your last words and what this place is hangs in the air for her a moment. Your sister goes with her other hand to absentmindedly pull on and twist one of her twin-tails in anxious worry, but stops herself and nods firmly. She steps up beside you and without hesitation lays a hand upon the tree.

It feels...like it did in the water. Something subtle, but a shared connection. There is a brief surge of power that passes you by as instead this force and energy directs itself at Koyomi. For a moment the well of power within this place is an overflowing chalice.

Her hair whips around as though it were caught in a great wind, and the hair clips born of her previous encounter with one of these intersections flash and flicker in a soft light. Then, they change. Flattening and glowing and splitting they change into something else before vanishing entirely.

For the briefest moment, a tiara with a heart shaped center sitting atop a ring of pears rests above her hair. It sparkles and splits into motes of light that spiral into the broach beneath her shirt. For the briefest instant it’s shape changes from circular to heart shaped beneath the fabric before resuming the familiar pattern.

“That felt...I have no idea how to describe how that felt,” she offers nervously as the latent and sourceless wind begins to die down, “But it felt like...something?”

“Your bunny clips are gone,” you observe, “They changed into a tiara and sparkled into you broach,”

“Awww, I was just getting used to them too,” she sighs and then offers with some resolution, “I guess I’ll have to see about finding some actual bunny clips then,”

“Come on, let’s head home and have some breakfast,” you smile and disengage from the tree and tag your younger sister in the shoulder.

“YES!” she exclaims, “I could eat so much right now, and that’s not even considering the appetite I’ll work up on the return trip!”

“Well, it’s good to hear you’ve got enough energy to be thinking about the end point,” you smile and lightly jog away from the tree, “Come one!”

On the run back, something builds in your mind that can’t be ignored. Something hard to talk about, but for the moment you are girded by the ley-lines of power and perhaps your own accomplishment of mental fortitude.

>>4481151

“Before, when you died,” you begin bluntly and with at least some difficulty parsing out which doesn’t go unnoticed by your sister, “You mentioned you felt a sleeping power, that if you’d been down much longer you would have found your own way back?”

“Yeah, I mean mom’s used the Silver Crystal that way before,” she huffs a bit during the run, “And...I was aware of it. I could reach out for it if I fell a bit further,”

“If you fell?” you question with some concern as your sister slows down a bit and holds one arm at her side crossing the other over her waist.

“Dying felt like...falling?” she considers another moment, “It's not falling down, I was falling toward something...Mikage-nee is this too much for you right now?”

Maybe you’re wearing your mood, thinking about literally seeing the girl before you die. Your baby sister laying still in the water underneath the searing mists Kalunite unleashed upon you in the water...it is hard to think about again, to hear about.

“...I’ll take a pill when we get home,” you reply evenly and earnestly toward her question of your state and mood.

“Alright,” she bites her lip and catches up to you, you did slow down for her when she paused, “Like, I think doing that would have been like when we purified Kalyke. If I rose it would have been in a gown, and I think I would have been…”

She’s keeping pace with you now, Koyomi is trying to run alongside you instead of behind you.

“I would have been of power and forgiveness, it would be clarity like I’ve never known before,” she muses, “but fleeting, like a dream,”

“We’ve had enough fleeting dreams lately,” you sigh and consider , “I think the boy from those dreams is the bad guy; and maybe someone related to dad,”

You can see the gears turning in your sisters head, along with the gradations of change in her expression as she seems to struggle with the situational arithmetic of what you’ve just said. As she screws her face into a frustrated and confused near to cross eyed expression.

“That,” she begins before spiking in volume and exasperation as she digs her heels into breaking her run and shoves balled fists down her side, “MAKES A FRUSTRATING AMOUNT OF SENSE!”

It echoes across the still awakening ward as she stands there tightly and oddly red faced in, is that embarrassment?

“Koyomi-chan?” you question and come around from the gain you took on her sudden stop, and pause beside her as she scrunches down suddenly and hugs her knees.

“Mikage-nee…” she half grouses and half cries, “I pulled an Usa-nee,”

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>>4481151
“Before, when you died,” you begin bluntly and with at least some difficulty parsing out which doesn’t go unnoticed by your sister, “You mentioned you felt a sleeping power, that if you’d been down much longer you would have found your own way back?”

“Yeah, I mean mom’s used the Silver Crystal that way before,” she huffs a bit during the run, “And...I was aware of it. I could reach out for it if I fell a bit further,”

“If you fell?” you question with some concern as your sister slows down a bit and holds one arm at her side crossing the other over her waist.

“Dying felt like...falling?” she considers another moment, “It's not falling down, I was falling toward something...Mikage-nee is this too much for you right now?”

Maybe you’re wearing your mood, thinking about literally seeing the girl before you die. Your baby sister laying still in the water underneath the searing mists Kalunite unleashed upon you in the water...it is hard to think about again, to hear about.

“...I’ll take a pill when we get home,” you reply evenly and earnestly toward her question of your state and mood.

“Alright,” she bites her lip and catches up to you, you did slow down for her when she paused, “Like, I think doing that would have been like when we purified Kalyke. If I rose it would have been in a gown, and I think I would have been…”

She’s keeping pace with you now, Koyomi is trying to run alongside you instead of behind you.

“I would have been of power and forgiveness, it would be clarity like I’ve never known before,” she muses, “but fleeting, like a dream,”

“We’ve had enough fleeting dreams lately,” you sigh and consider , “I think the boy from those dreams is the bad guy; and maybe someone related to dad,”

You can see the gears turning in your sisters head, along with the gradations of change in her expression as she seems to struggle with the situational arithmetic of what you’ve just said. As she screws her face into a frustrated and confused near to cross eyed expression.

“That,” she begins before spiking in volume and exasperation as she digs her heels into breaking her run and shoves balled fists down her side, “MAKES A FRUSTRATING AMOUNT OF SENSE!”

It echoes across the still awakening ward as she stands there tightly and oddly red faced in, is that embarrassment?

“Koyomi-chan?” you question and come around from the gain you took on her sudden stop, and pause beside her as she scrunches down suddenly and hugs her knees.

“Mikage-nee…” she half grouses and half cries, “I pulled an Usa-nee,”

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>>4481153

This is behavior you’re much more accustomed to from your little sister...though more complaining about herself than something else? So, perhaps more self aware?

“How did you pull an Usa-nee?” you ask cautiously while kneeling next to her.

She sighs and still red with embarrassment turns to look away from you, unable to meet your gaze directly.

“...I had a weird infatuation with a relative without knowing it,” she whines, before sputtering in a choke that slowly shifts into a deep initially frustrated but ultimately amused laugh that loosens her prior spring tightened form before she rocks back and unfolds into a sprawl upon the pedestrian path.

It is...infectious, and as she breaks into it you can’t help but join her. It eases the pains you are trying to hide as you continue this deepening moment of empathy with your younger sister, breakfast and the school day still looming ahead of both of you.

Eclipsed Moon Quest Episode 158
End

Wow, I'm out of it, I double posted that update...uh...

>>4481156
Poor Koyomi.
>>4481158
Go get some sleep then, dude.

Long promised Azusa interlude coming like maybe tomorrow or wednesday

>>4481156
Thanks for the thread Artemis.

>>4481158
Koyomi pulls an Usa, you pull an Usagi, it all fits.