I'm sorry...
Mother...
Artemis...
Natsume...
...Usagi...
This last beloved images flutter through your mind as it is deeply frozen, it's vital energy sapped away. Drifting in an ice cold sea of inky void, spirit lost to this great nil zone. Dreams forgotten as they are spun, nightmares galloping through your mind, of defeat, of failure, of rejection, of rape. Terror roars through your veins yet does not stir your soul to burning.
It's only a harsh demand of reality that finally returns Ami Mizuno to some state of awareness. It's one thing that's remained constant - it's damned hot in here, sweat tricking down your body(?). Your eyes can't seem to manage to open, but the soft breathing of someone near by can just be heard. Muscles aching frostily, you feel...dull pain and chill.
Ami shivers, the inward chill contrasting with the opressive heat horribly, making her feel as though she's suffering from a serious bout of the flu.
Her muscles scream at her, but she tries to move anyway, wondering what exactly happened. Should be dead....someone must have saved me...again.
You can just move slightly, body giving you piles of pain but minimal movement to your attempt. Your arm moves a degree from your effort, eyes shuddering but staying shut for the moment.
A distant, weakened, "....Ami?" is heard, Artemis's voice clearly exhausted.
"A...Artemis?" Ami rasps, whimpering softly as her body informs her exactly what it thinks of -that-. "Wh-What happened?"
"Ami, it's you!" Artemis has relief in his voice. "Thank goodness...I thought Celcia had won completely for a little while. Don't worry...as soon as I get up, I'll call Usagi. We'll get this taken care of," he rambles on, sounding rather bushed.
"Don't go..." Ami pleads blindly, feeling like crying. "What...what happened? I thought she killed me...are you all right?" She forces each and every word out, even speaking something of a strain.
"I'll live," he manages. "Just sore and cold. You did it, Ami...Celcia didn't seem to have enough energy to press her advantage - both of you passed out."
"...think you did it...that golden light weakened her." Ami manages. "She was winning. Artemis...talisman...is it off?"
A pause, deep and worrisome divides the two of you before he replies. "Ami-chan...your Talisman isn't an issue now, I think," is his words to you, tense.
"Sure? ...'kay..." Ami gives a deep, shuddering sigh. "Sorry, Artemis...make you worry..." she struggles with the words, too tired to try and puzzle out the silence.
Stirring again, you can feel your eyes very slowly try to rise. "Just stay there," Artemis smiles wanly. "I'm going to go call Usagi now...just calm down and rest, Ami-chan."
Ami nods slowly. Why is the Talisman not a issue? she wonders, testing the limits of her tired, aching body.
It's hard to move, your legs barely responding at all and your arms not much better. Damn, it's like the heat in the room is sapping your vitality out by the gallonful.
Yet, your eyes open, a sliver of light piercing your brain as they begin to weakly rise. You are...in the living room where it happened, lying against the couch, as Artemis staggers off. Your arm....
...
Your Talisman is gone. Yet...both of your arms are clearly ice blue.
It's...oh. Ami weakly struggles against the lethargy that seems bone deep, her heart sinking. I guess I couldn't be so lucky as to survive an apparent death without incident...and if I'm not wearing my talisman...I'm...I may be marked for good...or worse.
[09:06] <Ana-chan> For Ami, it's a short wait for ARtemis to return. His phone call doesn't last long, which is good. The longer you stay awake, the more you seem to ache deeply and feel like you're melting. Thirsty now, too, throat becoming bone dry with an alarming speed.
[09:07] <Ana-chan> "She'll be over soon, Ami," Artemis promises, staggering over to the couch and sitting. His clothes are scuffed, a few nasty looking bruises here and ther eon him.
[09:09] <Ami-chan> "Artemis..." Ami whispers softly, barely able to summon the energy needed to speak. "...I...I'm hot...Too hot.."
[09:21] <Ana-chan> "Ami-chan," he asks quizzically. "Is it that bad? I...we can try to go outside if you need to..."
[09:22] <Ami-chan> Swallowing hard to try and moisten her throat, Ami nods weakly. "Feel...melting..."
[09:23] <Ana-chan> HE looks on, wincing. "Just hang on," he nods. "Usagi should be here soon, and she can take you where it's cooler."
[09:26] <Ami-chan> Ami nods, a vague dazed delusion about living in an oven flitting through her mind, and she mentally urges Usagi to hurry...although, that leads to a dazed hallucination of cooked rabbit, and the rational part of her mind wonders exactly how much longer she -can- hold out...
[09:34] <Ana> As you swelter..."Artemis? Ami?" Luna asks, as both her and Usagi appear in the room. Usagi - Artemis is battered and dazes, clearly tired. Ami...her body's arms and the lowest part of her neck visible are tinted Celcia's ice blue. Her aura is ac omplete mess from everything you can see, too difficult to divine offhand and clearly mishmashed.
[09:35] * Usagi-chan gasps. "Ami-chan - are you okay?" Usagi rushes to the blue-haired girl's side, trying to make out anything more she can without taking too much time to do so.
[09:35] <Ana> OOC - Soul check.
[09:36] <Ana> Luna leaps out, landing near Artemis and giving him a curious look, the two communicating quietly.
[09:36] <Usagi-chan> roll 2d6
[09:36] * Shai`Hulud --> "Usagi-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 9."
[09:36] <Ami-chan> "Hot..." Ami complains weakly, looking up, her eyes glazed. " 'Sagi-chan?"
[09:36] <Ana> Wow. It's a total disasterous mess. Celcia's energy, Ami's energy, the Talisman's energy, Sailor Mercury's energy...all are swarming in the vessel of Ami Mizuno. Not to mention the spirits as well, all tangled.
[09:37] <Ana> "Usagi, Ami can't seem to take the heat in here," Artemis explains. "I think we need to get her outside or somewhere cooler fast."
[09:38] * Usagi-chan grimaces at the tangled jumble that is currently Ami. "The Moon should work, then," Usagi says with a frown. "Nice and cool up there, and I can work without having to worry about other people seeing me."
[09:40] <Ana> A nod from ARtemis. "Outside on the Moon...it's a start," he nods. "
[09:43] * Usagi-chan carefully picks Ami up from the bed, nodding to the two Mau. "Artemis, if you're coming, hop up on my shoulder. Luna - can you let everyone else know what's going on? I may need Rei and the Professor's help, if you can get hold of them."
[09:43] <Ana> Artemis does so, Luna nodding. "Right," she nods once. "I'll get Rei and the others together soon."
[09:44] <Ami-chan> Ami stirs a little as Usagi picks her up, then slumps.
[09:44] * Usagi-chan takes a deep breath, teleporting herself and the other two to the balcony outside her own bedchamber.
[09:46] <Ana> It's a short movement in mystical space. As soon as you arrive, the heat lessens drastically. While still warm, it's bearable now, your body feeling better under this cool.
[09:48] * Usagi-chan shivers a little as the trio arrives - between the chilly girl in her arms and the chill of the air, the clothes she hurriedly grabbed aren't doing much to keep her warm. But at least the stillness of the air makes the temperature somewhat bearable. Carefully, she lays Ami down on the stone floor.
[09:48] <Ami-chan> Ami raises her head a little, sighing in relief as it feels like layers of thick, oppressive wool have been pulled off of her brain. "Mmm?"
[09:49] <Usagi-chan> "It'll be okay, Ami-chan," Usagi says, smiling a bit weakly. Turning to Artemis, "There's a spare futon in my closet - could you go grab that so she at least doesn't have to lie directly on the floor?"
[09:53] <Ami-chan> Ami is silent a moment, trying to reorient herself, and she takes a few deep breaths, adjusting to the less oppressive atmosphere. "I...I'm still alive." she murmurs, then her mind catches up, and she lifts one of her arms to examine it again. "Oh..."
[09:55] <Ana> "Right," he nods, going to do that, shimmering into human form at the edge of your vision.
[09:56] * Usagi-chan goes over Ami's aura one more time, frowning as she considers what to do next. Deciding that merging the parts she wants Ami to keep is the best move for now, she nods. "Ami-chan, can you transform for me?"
[09:59] <Ami-chan> Ami blinks once, but doesn't question the request, reaching into her subspace pocket and withdrawing her henshin pen. "I'll...try..." she replies, taking a deep breath. 'I've never done this lying down before.'
[10:00] <Ami-chan> Lifting the pen, Ami calls out the phrase on instinct, not as boldly or loudly as she might have, but firmly just the same. "Mercury Holy Power...Make up!"
[10:03] <Ana> THere is a strange chill as it happens, as if your body is contracting, then....Ami falls, her henshin pen falling from her fingers. Her aura flares in a confused jumble, cold and energy radiating off her for several seconds. OOC - Soul check +3, Usagi.
[10:04] <Usagi-chan> roll 2d6+3 burning 20 EP
[10:04] * Shai`Hulud --> "Usagi-chan rolls 2d6+3 burning 20 EP and gets 13."
[10:07] <Ana> Ami's auras are so confused and interwoven - parts of Ami, Celcia, Mercury and even her Talisman are present in her body all at once, hence not being able to transform in earnest.
[10:07] * Usagi-chan shakes her head, sighing as she herself transforms - it looks like she's going to have to intervene directly.
[10:07] * Usagi-chan is now known as Serenity
[10:08] <Ami-chan> Ami lands roughly on he hands and knees, gasping at the sudden shock, and gritting her teeth.
[10:10] <Ami-chan> *Ami twists in place, gasping
[10:10] * Serenity takes Ami's hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry, Ami-chan," the blonde says quietly. "It'll be okay - we'll get you taken care of. Just try to relax, okay?"
[10:11] <Ami-chan> Ami nods slowly, smiling wanly up at the princess before her. "'kay." she rasps softly.
[10:11] <Ana> coming back with a futon, Artemis eyes Ami sadly. "Usagi?" he asks simply, kneeling next to the girl.
[10:12] * Serenity turns to Ami's Talisman, seeing if she can at least separate that one item out of the mix easily - Ami and Mercury can't and shouldn't be separated, and she sincerely doubts Celcia is going to come out without a struggle.
[10:14] <Ami-chan> Ami turns to Artemis, seeing her Mau's current state in earnest, and pained expression flickers across her face.
[10:15] <Ana> OOC - Soul check, +4.
[10:15] <Serenity> roll 2d6+4 burning 30 EP
[10:15] * Hatbot --> "Serenity rolls 2d6+4 burning 30 EP and gets 11."
[10:15] <Ana> "It's okay, Ami," he smiles wanly. "We'll get you fixed up."
[10:16] <Ami-chan> Ami nods, feeling a lump beginning to form in her throat. "I'm sorry." She whispers to him quietly
[10:16] <Ana> As you plunge down...while you manage to make some needed distinctions, you quickly find removing the Talisman or any other part is probably not going to happen easily at all, if at all period. The tangled weave of energy is like a thousand of different colored grains of sand mixed together, so throughly meshed that removal is difficult on a grand scale.
[10:19] * Serenity shakes her head slowly. "I don't even know where to start," she says tiredly. "It's like trying to sort sand, sugar, and salt - everything's just so jumbled up, and it's really hard to tell anything apart."
[10:21] <Ami-chan> Ami listens to Usagi's...prognosis, and flinches, just a little, then pushes her thoughts down, deep down. It wouldn't be productive to draw conclusions yet.
[10:22] * Serenity winces as she sees Ami's reaction. "I'm sorry, Ami-chan." She pauses a moment, studying the other girl's face. "How do you feel right now yourself?"
[10:24] <Ami-chan> Ami shakes her head and smiles a little. "Don't worry..." she murmurs softly. "...And I'm tired, and a little warm, but that's all I can tell right now."
[10:27] * Serenity squeezes Ami's hand again. "Just rest for now, then," she advises. "I'm not sure what to do right now, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up," she says determinedly. "We'll get this taken care of, Ami - I promise."
[10:28] <Ami-chan> Ami smiles tiredly and nods. "Thank you..." she replies quietly, shoving down pessimistic doubts.
[09:23] <Ana-breakfast> As Ami lies there, she feels a sleepiness coming on, a weariness again perking in her body.
[09:25] <Ami-chan> Ami feels her eyes drooping...and fights it, a surge of panic nearly overwhelming her. 'Can't go to sleep...she might take over...'
[09:26] * Serenity squeezes Ami's hand. "Rest for now, Ami-chan. I'll make sure she doesn't do anything while you're asleep - and you may need to fight her again. Get some rest."
[09:26] <Ana-breakfast> Artemis sighs in sorrow at this mess, "Ami...do you want me to bring any of your friends over," he asks, seeming to try to get it in before you collaspe.
[09:30] <Ami-chan> Ami nods sleepily to Usagi, shivering a little, though not from the cold and yawning. "Mm...Please..." she whispers distantly to Artemis. "Tellu...if she can come...and...Tell...Tell Natsume-chan, please..." She murmurs, letting her eyes close.
[09:30] <Ana-breakfast> Artemis nods, as Ami begins to fall asleep again...
Driting again, past ice floes and snowbank, a sun reflected and bright snowfield in your dreams. Ami stirs instantly, no transtion from being asleep to this state of awareness/not awakeness needed. All about her is a flawless frozen landscape, not a speck of life or vitality above the eternal frozen wastes.
She is standing, her garb of Sailor Mercury in place. Here, at least, her bod doesn't ache, merely being...there.
Ami blinks, the suddenness of the transition disorienting her for a moment. She looks down at herself, feeling the material of the gloves and then scanning the lifeless horizon. "Pretty, but depressingly still." she comments, as clinically as she can, a thread of unease worming into her consciousness.
"I hope this is the dream, and I'm actually asleep on the moon..."
"You're in our soul," Celcia's voice comes simply, the ice woman appearing before you. The rage of before is gone, replaced with...you aren't quite sure what, but the mix is rather deep. At this, her mouth twists into a rather unpleasant smile. "Our prison, thanks to your idiotic fighting."
"..." Ami flinches at Celcia's sudden appearance, relaxing only when it seems an attack isn't imminent. She looks over the sparkly, yet bleak landscape again. " 'Our soul'?" She asks. "I know that somehow, you're inside me, along with my talisman..." she begins, trying to puzzle the situation out for herself.
"Usagi-chan said she could fix it...we haven't fused that intimately, have we?" she wonders, ignoring the jibe.
Laughing, and not a light laugh of happiness or merriment, Celcia speaks on. "Foolish girl. We are so mixed together now that we are as one. Two in one body..." she drops carefully into a battle position, body loose. "Until one dies. This soul suits me, and it shall be my new body!"
Ami flinches, dropping back into a defensive position. "This again..." she sighs bitterly. I don't have much luck in resolving this permanently... "There's no point to fighting now, Celcia." Ami tries, watching the ice woman's every move, wary for an attack.
"We're on the moon, and Princess Serenity is watching over us. Even if you kill me, you're in no shape to face her AND our friends."
Ami flashes back to Artemis as she tries to stall the ice spirit.SHE hurt him...he got all those bruises fighting her...
"Or we both rot in this body together for all time," she says back nastily, a touch of sardonic annoyance there. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. This is my body now...and I'm going to get rid of the sqautter in it."
"As reasonable as ever, I see." Ami replies dryly, tired, bitter resentment and anger flooding her. "You're a spoiled child, Celica, and I'm tired of it."
She tenses. "You hurt my friends, and innocent people, then Behave as though I'm responsible! This isn't a game!" Ami grates, madder than she can ever remember being, and at the same time, she reaches out, probing her own resources, wondering if she's still depleted, and how she'll survive this...
You feel energy come to the calling, your spiritual force ready and refilled.
"Foolish girl...your friends don't mean a thing," she notes. "All that matters to me is bringing perfect winter. If your friends freeze it in it, it's no loss at all. If it is anything, it's your fault for not submitting and sparing them what I have for them now."
Thank kami... Ami thinks, relieved as she begins to try and think her way through fending off the bratty spirit.
"Empty, small ambitions." Ami dismisses blandly. "What would you do if you were unhindered? Die of boredom after your 'Perfect Winter' is achieved, I think. In fact, I suspect your aims are specifically crafted to get our attention." Ami smiles grimly. "But if this 'Perfect Winter' truly is your aim, you understand so little about the element you wield, I feel sorry for you despite your power."
She snorts, smiling darkly. "Perfect Winter IS the point. You felt what cold feels like when you are one with it - it is flawless bliss. I need nothing else once I have brought that all over. It is the reason for existance.
You and the remnants of Serenity's kingdom are merely in the way. Unimportant, trifling interferences." Advancing a single step forward, she presses. "You, gifted with great power for winter, cannot even comprehend this! You live in the wasting heat and endure it like a whipped dog!"
Ami laughs softly. "You're chasing an empty dream." she replies, pushing her anger down, and smiling, almost serenely. "Ice is a powerful force, yes, but on it's own, it's nothing...pathetic, really."
Her eyes stay on Celcia, watchful for an attack as she considers her options while she speaks. "It's prolific. Anywhere in the universe, you can find ice. But only when it teams with other elements can it create and nuture life. On it's own, ice is no more special, or wonderful than rock. Or air." Ami shrugs, and makes another dismissive gesture. "I would no more embrace the destructive, ugly power you seem to crave than I would end my own life."
"Foolish girl," she snorts again, this time raising her hand out, palm open. "To dimiss the cold as such, and Winter? You don't derserve this body!" she cries. With that, a ball of ice forms in her hand, racing at Ami!
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 5."
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 for Saturday Night Fever! and gets 9."
Quickly it goes, ice swarming over and in your body!...but no pain, only a soothing and enjoyable feeling, even as the ice infests your body before fading. Celcia scowls, "You are able to feel that now, and yet..." she says in digust.
Ami shudders in revulsion as the pleasure seeps through her. "If you were truly serious about your passion for ice, you'd be trying to do this to yourself!" Ami snaps.
Summoning her elemental control, Ami envisions a shield for herself, circular and large enough to protect her torso, but small enough to be worn on her arm, the edge of the circle razor sharp, and pulls the ice into the shape...
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6-2 for Captain America Action! and gets 3."
A sheild as you invision appears in your hand easily enough. "You feel the appeal of this, your body responding to your element," Celcia notes, eyeing you warily. "Stop fighting it...you would love an eternal winter as much as I!"
"No." Ami replies simply, lifting the shield defensively, and circling warily away from Celcia. "I wouldn't. Even if I would, I wouldn't give in. It's not my right to take lives for my own aims. Nor yours. That's why I oppose you."
Openings...Openings...
"Why?" she asks plainly. "You barely have friends, let alone someone to love? What have your morals gotten you? Nothing but miserable battle after miserable battle, and you're still alone." A cold smile works on her face. "Feel it here, Ami. You are built for this and nothing else - as anyone gifted by winter is."
She maintains on guard, not giving you an ultra easy openings. You'd need to make a full attack, you'd think.
Ami smiles a little. "You know, if you had tried that line on me a little earlier, it might have worked." she admitted. "I -am- alone...but not as much as you think. I have my friends, and my mother, and Artemis...even if they don't love me the way I might like them to, they're still there for me."
"How could I abandon them for fleeting, pointless pleasure?" Ami asks seriously. "You...You and I are alike, after all." she realizes. "But you don't have what I have, so you think this Perfect Winter is the ultimate goal...and it's really not."
Her smile grows sad and grim. "You won't try to understand me, and I can't understand you...Unless you want to at least try, we're doomed to facing off until one of us is dead."
Ami pauses, letting the unspoken offer rest between them, and waits for Celcia's response, tensing her legs to charge. One way or another, It ends. I doubt she'll take the offer...would be nice, though...but the moment she turns me down...-move-
"Which will be a very long time," she snorts. "If we cannot hurt each other with ice..." Trailing off, she stands more erect now, as if realising something. "Then it shall go on and on and on. Perhaps...we'll remain here forever?" she asks, becoming amused. "Would you stake forever, Ami? Merely agree and take what your body and spirit crave and we can escape this."
"I can't." Ami replies softly, but firmly. We can't hurt each other? Then...what are we doing? "It would be a betrayal of everthing, and everyone of value to me."
"Come with me." Ami offers hesitantly. "I'm more than willing to share my body, if you don't threaten innocent people with it. See what it's like to have people who care enough about you that they'll put themselves in harm's way for you. Before you really pursue a 'Perfect Winter', shouldn't you at least see what you're giving up?"
"You still don't understand...I am the spirit of Winter," she shakes her head, annoyed. "I don't CARE about humans. You have winter in you as well...why do you stay with them? Everything you've ever needed is in it."
"There has to be balace in all things. What is winter, without summer?" Ami asks. "Irrelevant. Ugly. Pointless. But paired with summer, Winter is valuable. Useful. Even beautiful."
She sighs. "I feel sorry for you." she says finally, warily. "Humans have people much like you, who pursue pleasure at the expense of all else...and they usually destroy themselves. Only you intend to drag humanity with you. Why does it have to be earth? Why not create a 'Perfect Winter' someplace else?"
That gets a nasty grimace. "Summer is a vicious invasion of heat and misery," she shoots back. "It only serves to disrupt Winter's beauty." With that, she nods. "Earth is merely the beginning...this entire solar system and beyond must be blessed with an eternity of winter!"
Ami just shakes her head. "You still haven't told me -why-." She points out.
"You feel why yourself! You are in touch with Winter as much as I! I am the spirit of Winter, Sailor Mercury. What you felt when I attacked you, multiply that a hundred thousand fold. THat is the reason, if one is needed for such a thing." Advancinga nother step, she extends her hand. "Ami..." she even sounds semi sincere with this, managing not to look 100% viciously and icy evil. "Listen to yourself. You are meant for this as much as I am. Stop clinging to those other humans."
"You said it yourself. I am human." Ami replies calmly, and firmly. "I won't sell them out to you so that you can push them into insignificance. Pleasure is not an acceptable tradeoff for countless deaths."
Ami's expression hardens. "We're at an impasse, Celcia." she declares firmly. "If we must be in here forever so that I can protect them from you, so be it."
"You foolish girl," she says, anger returning. "You again reject your nature for idiotic ideals!" As she speaks, you feel a strange rushing upward, a mingling of another reality and this one.
"Awakening..." Celcia murmurs, before rising up and going for it!
Wha...No!Ami grits her teeth and with all her strength, hurls the shield off of her arm and at Celcia as she lunges for the opening as well!
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 for ice bitch and gets 7."
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 5."
Ami races up, soaring above to...to...you feel yourself pass Celcia, who seems to fall back down after you do, then...
Awake.
---
OOC - Paused here until tomorrow, as I need to get Natsume straight and everything in line.
[09:37] <Ana-breakfast> ---
[09:41] <Ana-breakfast> Artemis takes off once Ami falls asleep again, after a brief conversation with Usagi about whom to bring on his end. After leaving, Ami seems to simply rest, her spirit focused inward to a high degree.
[09:43] * Serenity remains by Ami's side, keeping a close watch over the girl as she rests - there's not much else she can do, for the moment.
[09:45] <Ana-breakfast> Her aura continues to be introverted - forces moving beneath it rather rapidly. Perhaps a half hour passes before Tellu arrives, having clearly just thrown on her school uniform and not even tied or brushed her hair back. "Usagi," she asks, rushing over. "Oh my...Ami?" she asks, staring. "Artemis said something was wrong, but this...?"
[09:46] * Serenity shakes her head. "Apparently Celcia managed to get out of her Talisman - her spirit is completely mixed up with Ami's right now. I can't even do anything for her myself - it's all just too jumbled up."
[09:47] <Ana-breakfast> Holding back tears as she sits next to Ami, just by the field, "Oh...Ami-chan," she says brokenly. "Will she...?"
[09:48] * Serenity smiles a bit. "She'll make it," the blonde says, more confidently than she feels. "I know she can."
[09:49] <Ana-breakfast> A nod there, Tellu simply watching and waiting for now. It's not too much longer before Ami finally stirs again, the aura(s) coming to the surface. A moan and gasp escape her lips as her eyes slowly open. Ami - you feel tired and achy again, but slightly less than before. Is that...Usagi? Tellu?
[09:53] <Ami-chan> Ami blinks a few times, trying to get her bearings. The way her insides and outsides had...mingled, just briefly, was disconcerting, to say the least. "Nnn..." she groans softly, trying to make her eyes focus. "Made it..." she whispers and then the dissheveled green haired girl comes into view, and Ami smiles weakly. "Hi...S-sorry to wake you so late..."
[09:55] <Ana-breakfast> "Ami-chan," she shakes her head. "What...are you safe?"
[09:57] <Ami-chan> Ami tries to sit up, testing how much her body will let her do. "...No." She admits quietly. "I...just barely avoided having Celcia wake up instead of me."
[09:58] <Ana-breakfast> You manage it, though you feel warm even here. Not hot, but you wish someone would turn down the temperature, so to speak.
[09:58] <Serenity> "Just relax," Usagi says quickly. "Don't push yourself too much."
[10:00] <Ami-chan> Ami nods, lying back and sighing. "Usagi-chan..." she tells the blonde quietly, "You...should put me under guard." Ami's voice is bleak and tired as she dabs at her forehead with her sleeve.
[10:01] <Ana-breakfast> "Oh, Ami..." Tellu murmurs softly, closing her eyes as tears begin to form.
[10:02] <Serenity> "I'm not going to leave you until we get this taken care of, Ami-chan," Usagi says. "Don't worry."
[10:05] <Ami-chan> Ami nods slowly, quiet for a moment. She looks up at Tellu, and smiles, a little weakly. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this...but thank you...for coming, I mean." Ami smiles a little more warmly, wishing she could stop perspiring. "It means a lot to me..."
[10:09] <Ana-breakfast> "I'll be here for you, Ami," Tellu promises, nodding. "If you want...We could go to the Lunar Garden? It's nicer than Usagi's bedroom balcony."
[10:11] <Ami-chan> Ami looks as though she's about to agree, when the slight perspiration reminds her of something. "I...don't know if I can." she sighs. "I wouldn't want to hurt the plants, but I can't seem to function very well in warmer temperatures."
[10:13] <Serenity> "And I'm not so sure it's a good idea for her to be moving around until she can get more of this sorted out," Usagi says with a slight frown. "It's up to you, though, Ami-chan."
[10:17] <Ami-chan> "I...suppose I shouldn't." She sighs. "I don't know what to do...if I fall asleep, she'll be waiting for me again..."
[10:18] <Ana-breakfast> "Ami-chan," Tellu asks, worried. "Celcia is in your dreams?"
[10:21] <Ami-chan> "She said it was my soul." Ami smiles wanly, nodding and looking pensive.
[10:23] * Serenity nods, frowning slightly. "That's more or less right, from what I can see," the blonde agrees. "And I can't separate her out myself." She takes a deep breath. "I think you're going to have to try to separate her from yourself, Ami, if you can. You're just too tangled together for me to try purifying her out, and it's too complex to even try to start sorting it out on my own."
[10:26] <Ami-chan> "Where do I begin?" Ami asks softly. "This...isn't as simple as extracting her from her victim, where I could work out what needed to be done..." Ami closes her eyes. "Even Celcia seems to think the only way to seperate us is for one of us to die."
[10:28] <Ana-breakfast> "You can't die, Ami," Tellu says quickly, tearing up. "You just can't!"
[10:28] <Serenity> "You know who you are," Usagi says. "Hold onto that, and why that makes you different from her. You might both have powers over ice, but you're not really anything like her. That's about all I can suggest, really."
[10:32] <Ami-chan> "Tellu-chan..." Ami smiles at Tellu gratefully, her own eyes getting a little wet. "Thank you...I won't give up." she promises, a little more energy in her voice. After a longer moment, she turns to Usagi. "But...how can I expel her?" she asks. "Do you have any ideas that can help? Right now, we're at a stalemate...she can't use her powers to hurt me, and I suspect the same applies for me."
[10:37] <Ana-breakfast> Tellu merely stays there, reaching up for your hand before recoiling an inch away from the shield. "You have to be strong, Ami...I know that much, at least," she volunteers.
[10:37] <Serenity> "What do you have besides your powers, then?" Usagi asks. "Maybe you can't hurt her with ice, but what else can you do?"
[10:42] <Ami-chan> Ami nods to Tellu, reaching up and matching her gesture. "It's hard, though." she confesses, her voice brittle. She pauses to contemplate Usagi's question...before coming up blank. "I don't know. She's utterly immune to being reasoned with, and...my mind is where my strengths lie." she sighs but doesn't give up on the problem, turning it over in her mind.
[10:52] <Ami-chan> "She wants my body." Ami muses to herself as she thinks. "Whatever I do...It can't be gradual, or she'll stop me...I wish I knew more about spiritual combat..."
[11:02] <Serenity> "I wish I could help you more too," Usagi says with a slight sigh. "But I don't have any experience with it, either."
[11:06] <Ana-chan> "You'll find a way, Ami," Tellu supplies, as you feel your eyelids gettin gheavy again.
[11:07] <Serenity> "Just remember, Ami - we're here for you," Usagi says, seeing Ami start to drift off again.
[11:08] <Ami-chan> "Oh no...what I wouldn't give for a dozen cans of soda..." Ami mumbles, soft, quiet dread in her voice as her eyes try to close. She smiles a little at Usagi. "Thank you..."
[11:15] <Ana-chan> Even as Usagi replies, Ami's vision swims and darkens, as she again falls into the pit of slumber.
[11:15] <Ana-chan> ---
Again you sink into the frozen depths of your soul, feeling far better than your mortal vessel is. The pains and damage to that are not relevant here, as you again appear as Sailor Mercury.
Sitting on a slight upward tilt of ice is Celcia, as if bored. Snow falls right now, a soft and lingering caress against your body. Even here, where it is undoubtidly cold as the empty space, it's preferable to the Moon's only light chill.
The cold is pleasurable, disturbingly so. "Wonderful." Ami sighs softly. Seeing Celcia contemplating her navel, metaphorically speaking, Ami pauses a moment to reach out with her senses, quieting her mind like Rei taught her, to see if she can connect with more in the environment than simply her companion element.
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 for universal oneness. and gets 7."
'tis a strange thing. All about you...you feel senses of yourself reflected, of ice, of Celcia, of a single bracelet that was the catalyst for this...
Gah! It's overwhelming to you, as you fall to your knees in a near mental overload. Much of it you cannot interpret, and even the parts you can are difficult to manage at this time. Wow.
As that races through your mind, "Back already," Celcia notes.
Ami drops to her knees, fighting to re-orient her senses. "Yes." Ami agrees sourly. "I'm as pleased as you are, apparently."
She shivers, trying to make sense of the whole mess. This is rather...vexing. She thinks a moment. Usagi said I should focus on myself, as that would be easiest to disentangle...which is a peculiar item to be searching for. Perhaps I should take some philosophy courses.
Again, she thinks back to Rei's lessons, remembering in particular the very first, about tuning out her own body...and instead, Ami focuses on it, looking for 'herself' in the scenery. While she does this she also keeps an eye on the blue skinned woman sitting across from her.
As you focus in, "Trapped in a cage outside, stuck here on the inside," Celcia notes with a certain venom in her voice.
Ami gives Celcia a sharp look, her attention wavering for a moment. "You're aware of what I can see when I'm conscious?" she probes. On the other hand, I -did- tell her about Usagi...It's a reasonable supposition.
Regaining her concentration, Ami begins tentatively picking about, carefully looking for framents of her 'self' to gather and isolate, while keeping a wary eye on Celica.
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 5."
No reply to that, instead, "So alone even there...your friends can't touch you even if they wanted to," she notes. As you zoom in - it's odd. It's...you lack the training or skill to interpret it, yet it's best compared to a great pile of fragmented, colored glass. So many shards, so many ways to cut yourself.
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 12."
As you seem to, you see Celcia produce another ball of ice and fling it...yet perhaps she has had better days herself, as it slips from her hand as she throws, landing on her foot instead.
Ami sighs at the sight of her own shattered soul, wondering vaguely how it is that she's still alive. She sighs...and jumps, squeaking in surprise as she catches the formation of the ice ball, preparing to duck...and blinking as it drops onto Celcia's feet.
She stares, dumbfounded...and then, without a word, holds out a hand, and concentrates on forming her own Ice ball, hauling back to let it fly!
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 4."
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 7."
Your ball of frozen water flings forth, narrowly missing Celcia! She grimaces, forming a sword of ice again, a wicked scimitar, before lunging for your throat!
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 6."
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 4."
A nimble weave back avoids your windpipe getting extra ventilation!
Ami smiles slightly, forming her shield again, breathing heavily with the shock of the near miss, and in the other hand, another ball of ice. "I thought you said we couldn't harm each other this way?" Ami asks, almost conversationally, the many shocks of the evening dulling her panic at the combat.
It was bound to come to this eventually...
A sneer, perhaps laced with the slightest lacking of confidence, "What else do we have," she asks simply. With that, she makes a brutal slash for you!
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 4."
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 9."
Slipping past your shield, her blade slashes across your chest! The caress of ice sooths your skin and makes you wish it was even colder here, the cut sealing without a single drop of ice choked blood falling.
Ami shudders, gritting her teeth, alarm at the seductive cold blaring through her mind. "Unimaginative." she replies, a word almost a curse for the blue haired genius.
Grimacing, she turns her arm sideways, before Celica can retreat, and snapping her arm, she slashes at Celcia with the razor sharp edges of the ice shield!
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 3."
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6 and gets 7."
A narrow miss, as it whizzes through the air an inch by her! "Effective," she snorts back, a great slash coming, aimed right at your throat!
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6+2 and gets 9."
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 5."
Whoosh! The blade swings by, only severing a tiny bit of hair that flitted to the side and missing your vital neck!
Well, that worked well...Now's the time, if I'm going to... Ami leaps back and away to gain range and raises her hands over her head, casting a summon for an attack she's used only once before. Watery strands of ice come together as sheforms them into a ball in her hand, shouting the name of her attack loud and clear. "MERCURY...FROST...SHRIKE!"
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 for birdy action! and gets 6."
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6+2 and gets 9."
The Shrike forms, soaring towards Celcia! It powerfully slams into her chest! Celcia shudders from it, shivering wonderfully at the cold as she is knocked back to her knees!
Ami eyes Celcia's obvious pleasure and grimaces. "I feel...dirty, somehow." she complains softly. She raises one hand, leaving the other with her sheild on it hanging by her side, and a swirl of blue flies up to her outstretched limb. Spinning once in place to gain momentum, Ami hurls the ball at Celcia with a cry of "Shine Aqua Illusion!"
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 for following up! and gets 8."
* Hatbot --> "Ana-chan rolls 2d6+2 and gets 10."
The rush of watery ice of the Illusion aces home! Celcia is wrapped in it, seeming to draw enjoyment as it works over her body! As this happens, the light from above shines again...are you waking up?
Celcia sees it as well, very slowly beginning to move...
Ami watches her attack hit home with mild disgust. "This is the most revolting battl-eh?" She interupts herself as she sees the familiar juxtaposition of her and the 'real' world, and lunges for it before Celcia tries it...
Ami rises up slowly, just ahead of Celcia! The world goes white, as there is a moment of being between...ARGH!
---
TBC in chat, then a new topic, I think. Paused until Natsume catches up.