Ah, waiting. Really, for now, that's all you can do. After an hour, it seems that Ami is going to be unconcious for quite awhile. ON seeing this, "There are some rooms if you want to rest, Natsume," Artemis offers, as you blink away. You were staring up at the Earth, visible through the plant canopy clearly on request of Tellu. Far bigger and brighter than the Moon on Earth, it gives everything a blue luminesence when it strikes just right. So pretty.
"No, I'm fine," Natsume respectfully declines. "I don't think I could get to sleep even if I wanted to."
He nods, rising. "Alright, but I'm going to sleep myself," he notes. With a shimmer, a cat is where the human just was. Curling up on the ground, "If you can, do rest while we can."
After Artemis drifts off to dreamworld Natsume gets up from her spot on the ground. She slowly walks over to Ami's unconscious form, or at least as close as she can get with the forcefield blocking her off from the rest of the world.
"I...can't imagine what's going through your head right now," she whispers as she stares at her. "But I wish I could, though it seems I'm still too far outside the box for something like that."
She stared back up at the planet Earth, hanging in the sky, larger than anything she'd ever seen before.
"Here I am, standing on the moon of all places, and here you are, battling something in subconscious that I can't see, hear or feel," she says. "Not too long ago...my fondest wish was to one day be a sailor senshi like you. Fighting evils, righting wrongs...be the hero I'd always wanted to be."
She took a moment to stare at her hands. Yes, that had been what all her training was for. To be a warrior for justice. Sword in hand, cutting down evil wherever it reared its head.
"Now...my fondest wish is...to always be there when you need me, to always be the person you can count on...to protect you," she whispers. She clenched her hands fiercely, so much so that her nails were cutting into the flesh of her palms. Her vision slowly blurred, though it was not from any physical pain. "But I can't DO that can I? All I can do is stand on the outside looking in while everyone else tries desperately to do what I can't."
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gnashed her teeth together.
"I...I..I hate this...I hate being weak like this....I," she said, the frustration mounting. "I...I...just...I just hope you can hear me, wherever you are. I hope you know...how much...how much I..."
She breathed a deep sigh. This was not going anywhere fast. All she was doing was ranting to herself. She took a brief moment to stare at her hands. Her palms were slightly bloody...
"Maybe I do need to get some sleep...."
"Did you want to get some rest?" Usagi asks, having been seated a few feet away. "I can take you up to one of the guest rooms if you'd like - it's a little chilly to be sleeping out here for most of the rest of us."
Natsume jumps at hearing the sound of Usagi's voice behind her. For some reason she had forgotten there were other people in the room with her...
"Ah..uhh...yes, I think that would be a good idea," she says nervously. Just how much of her personal tirade had she heard? "Just standing here worrying myself to death won't do me or Ami any good."
The blonde nods, rising from her seated position. "Follow me, then."
Nodding to Tellu, she leads the way out of the enclosed space in the garden, quickly making her way inside the marbled halls of the palace. As she walks, she glances back at the dark-haired girl behind her. "You seem to care for Ami a lot," she comments. "Did you know her before all this happened?"
"Um...yes, we met not too long ago. During that incident at the mall, where Ami originally sealed Celcia inside of her," Natsume says. "We've...been keeping in close contact ever since."
"Just that long?" Usagi asks, sounding a bit surprised. "That was only a couple of days ago. From the way you were talking in there, I figured you'd known her for longer than that."
"Has it only been a few days? Huh..it feels like I've known her for alot longer...," Natsume says quietly. "She's had...a very strong impact on my life. I can't explain why...but she makes me want to be a stronger person."
Usagi nods a bit, understanding to an extent.
The pair make their way through the palace, ascending a broad marble staircase. The princess' path takes the two into an enormous hall, along a second-floor balcony overlooking a broad, polished expanse. The far side of the hall is open, revealing a lovely - if rather sterile - view of the Lunar plains, with the azure Earth visible in the sky above the horizon.
Usagi seems not to notice the spectacle, her footsteps making little noise on the stone floors. "I don't know how long Ami will be up here, so if you need to go back down to take care of things on Earth just let someone know - we can get you back to Tokyo fairly quickly."
"Yeah, I'll have to do that soon. What time is it now on Tokyo? When I left it was 4am," Natsume asks. "Its kind of hard to tell time from this perspective."
As she says that she looks out over the plains to the planet Earth, surrounded by the void of space.
"I'm not sure off the top of my head, but most of the rooms have clocks in them - we use Tokyo time here for now," Usagi explains. "It was probably 2 or 3 am when I brought Ami up here, so I'd guess it's early morning there right now - maybe 7 or 8, somewhere in there."
"Aiya...well I have a few more hours before grandfather realizes I'm not in my room," Natsume says with a sigh. "I suppose using the excuse that I was visiting a sick friend on the moon wouldn't be all that believeable, would it?"
"Probably not, no," Usagi says with a wry smile. "But I'll leave what you want to say back up to you." The two exit the hallway, entering a long hallway that, unlike most of the palace aside from the great hall you just left, seems very clean and polished.
Serenity makes her way down the hallway, stopping with a start and backtracking to a side passage that the two walked past just a few minutes before. "Ooops... sorry, we don't have real guests here very often," she says apologetically. "The guest rooms are all cleaned up, and I'll leave a light in your room. Any one in particular you'd like to stay in?" she asks, gesturing along the hallway.
"I suppose any would be fine, I don't exactly have many preferences when it comes to sleeping in a gigantic lunar palace like this," Natsume says with a laugh.
"I guess not," Usagi says with a smile. "It's not something you'd have guessed you'd be doing today, right?"
Heading into the nearest room, Usagi raises her hand, a small globe of light forming above it. "This room should do then," she says. The room in question isn't anywhere near the size of the one where Natsume found Ami, but it's still a good deal larger than her own back at home, with a separate sitting room, an attached bathroom, and a large, four-poster bed.
Usagi thinks for a moment. "There are a few signs scattered around the palace, I think - if you wander around, just look for those. They should get you up to my office if you get lost, which is kind of easy to do. I'll go ahead and let you get some rest right now, unless you needed something else first?"
"Ah, n...no, nothing at all," Natsume stuttered as she gaped at the size of the place. Was everything in this palace super sized? "I guess this is what the Emperor must feel like everything day..."
Usagi giggles a bit at that. "I never really thought about it like that, but I guess so," she replies. "I've never been to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, so I'm not sure how it compares to here. I just know that this place is huge - probably the biggest building I've ever been in, by far."
"Hm, speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask," Natsume starts, turning to Usagi. The long flowing dress, the odd crescent shaped symbol on her forehead, that slight aura of mysticism now around, hell, she even looked a little bit taller than normal. "What...has happened to you? You seem so...regal now."
"You could say I am," Usagi says with a small smile. "This is just one of the forms I can take on, like Sailor Moon - except that this is the form of Serenity, the former princess of the Moon Kingdom. Although I'm more the queen now, even if it's not of very much yet," she adds wryly. "Just a few friends and this palace, really."
"A senshi and a princess, those must make wonderful titles for your resume," Natsume laughed. "But really, that's amazing, even though I can't see the auras of others that well yet, even I can tell yours is extremely strong right now."
Natsume's brow furrows for a moment, as if recalling something.
"Back when you were telling me the story of the Moon Kingdom, you said the Silver Crystal was the source of Serenity's power," she says. "So how is it you can assume this form now that its destroyed?"
Usagi shakes her head. "It was what the original kingdom was founded on," she says. "I can use the Crystal, and better in this form than in any other way, but I'm not dependent on it. I'm still the princess - or the queen, whichever way you look at it - whether I have the Crystal or not."
"Ah, so many details, I still don't have all them down yet," Natsume admits. "Well, anyway, I'm sure you have more important things to do than chit-chat aimlessly with me. I'd better try and get some rest right now..."
Natsume bows deeply after that.
"Thank you for the generous hospitality."
"It's no trouble," Usagi says with a smile. "And I wish there WAS something I could be doing right now," she adds, shaking her head a bit. "I have no idea what Celcia's doing, but whatever it is, it's too complex for me to do anything about."
"I...I'm sure..." Natsume starts, not sure how to voice that particular concern. "All any of use can do now is rely on Ami-chan's strength. She beat Celcia once, and there's no doubt she will do it again."
Usagi simply nods. "Anyway, I'm going to go up to my room to get some rest myself," the blonde says. "Feel free to wander around if you want, but I wouldn't go too far into the underground levels - it's pretty dark down there without a light and I haven't done much repair work there yet. I'll come find you when I get up." With that, the blonde monarch nods to her guest, leaving the ball of light behind as she departs.
Natsume watches the princess disappear into the darkness of the palace. She idly grasps the ball of light, it seems it would be her only source of illumination in the place. She then wanders over to the bedroom window that takes up nearly the entire side of the room.
"I suppose I should follow my own advice, and just wait," Natsume murmured as she stared out onto the lunar landscape. "As much as I hate it..."
She walks over to the bed and collapses onto it. It was like lying on a bed of feathers, much softer than the one at home.
"If I want to be stronger, I have to grasp it, crying won't solve anything," she says. "When I wake up, I'll do everything I can to find the strength I'm looking for, no matter what I have to do...."
You don't even remember falling asleep, but the rise back to wakefulness is a definite indication that you are. You feel remarkably well-rested after the nap; the bedside clock reveals the time to be just a few minutes after noon. The light left by Usagi sits where you left it, shedding a dim light over the entire room.
"Uhhgh," is the intelligent vocal Natsume gives as she wakes up. She sits up, idly wipes the drool from a corner of her mouth and glances at the nearby clock. So it seemed this place did have a method of telling Earth time. "Well, I'm pretty sure grandfather is awake by now and wondering why the hell I didn't show up for morning training. Wonderful...."
Natsume wanders over to the door and steps outside into the hall, the light orb in hand. In space, it was always night.
"Now...where am I again?"
There's no answer except for the slight echo of her own voice. The light in her hand illuminates the hallway outside, a few paintings adorning the walls. The hallway ends several dozen yards to her left, and connects to the main hallway in the other direction. Several other rooms branch off that the swordswoman can see, all with open doors.
"Wonderful, I guess I should've paid more attention to where I was going when Usagi-san brought me here," she mumbles. "Hm, I suppose I can just wait for her to come get me..."
After a bit of thought she decides to simply pick a direction and walk.
"Hm, right looks nice."
A few minutes of walking is all it takes to get hopelessly lost, unfortunately. You remember coming up a set of stairs, and through a maze of hallways and small rooms, and now you have no idea where in the world you are. One thing catches your eye, though, as you round a corner. To your right, you can see a balcony overlooking the palace gardens below, while to your left, a tall pair of double doors - currently open - lead into another room, and a large one from the looks of it. A crescent moon sigil is carved into the lintel above the doorway, and you can glimpse a couple of pillars within.
"Wonderful that didn't take long," Natsume says to herself. "I should've known, in a place this big it'd take record time for me to completely lose my sense of direction."
After surveying her current location, to determine exactly where the hell she was, she spots the balcony and large room to her right and left.
"I don't think getting a look at the gardens is going to help me out any," she assumes as she decides on left.
The room in question lights up as you enter it, a series of globes much like the one in your hand - although much larger - lighting up along the ceiling. This hall is magnificent - gracefully fluted marble columns reaching up to support a ceiling high overhead, with a large skylight opening onto the starry expanse of space above. Several sculptures line the hall, and a raised dais sits at the far end - currently bare, but it's not hard to imagine the throne that should fit there.
Two doorways lead from the room, from the end nearest the dais; one is dark, while the other is lighted - and did you just hear a noise in that direction?
"Man...this is starting to feel like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure games...," Natsume says as she walks closer to the empty platform, trying to discern where the noise is coming from. "Maybe behind one of these doors? But which one?"
There's definitely a noise, coming from the room on your right. Sounds like papers shuffling around - very faint, but it becomes clearer as you get closer to the doorways.
"Hmm, right it is then," she decides. She slowly walks over to the rightmost door, being careful not to make any sounds. She lightly grasps the doorknob, slowly opens the door and....
Inside is a rather spacious study, with bookshelves lining most of the walls. The floor is of a pure white marble with several understated rugs covering much of the surface; the room itself is mostly occupied by a VERY large desk. Stacks of paper - looking very disorganized - are much in evidence, and behind the desk, scribbling away at something, is Usagi. She's intent enough on her work that she doesn't notice you come in, poring over a large, unrolled sheaf of papers on the desk.
"U...Usagi-san," Natsume says in surprise, more at the large stacks of papers than Usagi herself. "W...what are you doing?"
Usagi glances up in surprise. "Oh, Natsume! I didn't hear you come in!" She motions the other girl into the room, standing up. She's no longer in her royal garb, now dressed in a pink sweater and a pale green skirt. "I couldn't sleep myself, and I was too jumpy to stay with Ami-chan - she's still out, and Artemis is with her. So I came up here to try to get some work done."
"Ah, I'm sorry for disturbing you," Natsume apologizes sheepishly. "What...kind of work are you doing?"
"It's no trouble, really - I'm just going over the palace blueprints to see what I need to work on fixing next. Again." She sighs, running a hand through her hair. "Did you need anything? I could use a break right now, to tell the truth - I'm mostly trying to keep myself from worrying too much about Ami, really."
"Eheh, actually, I kind of got lost and wandered here by accident," Natsume admitted. "But...since you're here...I guess there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
She fidgets a bit, not quite sure how to ask what she wanted to ask.
"I...wanted to ask you a favor," she continued. "Theres something I want, something only you can give me..."
Usagi raises an eyebrow, setting down her pen. "Hmm? A favor? What did you have in mind?"
"I...don't really know how to ask this...I'm not even sure if I should be asking this..." she mumbled quickly before stopping and taking a deep breath. "I want...I want to....I want...to know...how to become...a senshi...like you."
Usagi's expression becomes rather serious at that, and she rests her arms on the desk as she turns to fully face Natsume. Only one word leaves her lips as she gives the dark-haired girl across from her a searching look.
"Why?"
"Because...because...I want to protect the things that are important to me!" Natsume finally lets out. "I want to make sure my sister never falls prey to the clutches of a monster again. I want to make sure innocent people don't fall into the hands of demons who will use them and then discard them like trash, or victimized in a monster's rampage. I want...I want to make sure the people I truly care about don't get hurt just for doing the right thing..."
She calms down a bit after finally venting all of that out.
"Look, I'll be honest, despite all my 'noble' intentions, I want to do this especially for Ami, though I'm sure you already guessed that," she admits. "I want to go where she goes, fights where she fights, protect her so that she never has to take stupid risks again!"
"But...I can't do that as I am now...despite all of my training, I'm still powerless. I can make swords, I can shoot energy blasts from my finger, even recently I learned to move at almost double my normal speed. But...all of that...it just doesn't feel like its enough," she continues. "All of that, and I still can't do what a senshi does. I still can't protect anyone."
The blonde sighs, leaning her head on one hand as she rubs her temples. "Natsume... even if I could just wave my hand and say 'poof, you're a senshi' - which I can't - there's a lot more to it than just protecting people. You know the story of where we came from at this point - just because that's all far in the past doesn't mean it's meaningless now. The senshi's first duty - more than any other single thing - is to me, and to the kingdom. It's not just an outfit and a lot of flashy abilities."
She raises her head, giving Natsume a serious look. "And if you think you can't protect anyone now, why would becoming a senshi make any difference? If you're going in with that attitude, then all you're looking for out of being a senshi is power. With that in mind, why would I give you that power?"
"If all I was looking for was pomp and flash I'd dress up as Sailor V and start throwing foliage at people," Natsume answered. Did she always think so little of her? Then again, this entire line of conversation was not painting a good picture of herself. "I won't lie to you. I do want more power. I looked up to you and other senshi BECAUSE you had great power. But it wasn't just your strength I admired, it was what you did with it. It was because you used it for a noble purpose."
"You can question my motives as many times as you like, Lord knows enough people have already, but the answer is never going to change. Whether it be now, later, or a hundred years later, it will always be the same," she continues. "I want to fight to protect people, now more than ever, and to do that I need the power to defeat anything that would endanger them. I could either sit on my laurels and pray that MAYBE fate would drop it into my lap someday, or I could get on my feet, reach up, and grasp it for myself. Even if it means I have to give up my future and live a life of servitude to a kingdom that barely exists."
Finally takes a momentary rest from her prolonged rant.
"Or you could refuse, maybe I'm not worthy of the title of senshi. If that's the case, I'll just have to accept that," she says. "In which, I'll just have to find another path to the same end. It won't be easy, but I'll find it, no matter how long it takes."
Usagi's expression darkens, and she frowns. The blonde turns away from Natsume in her seat, and several moments pass before she speaks again, not looking directly at the other girl. "If you needed to go back to Tokyo for any reason, I can take you there for a few minutes. If you're hungry, there's food in the kitchens. If there's nothing else, I have work to get back to."
She stares at the blonde intensely for a few minutes before finally letting out the breath she'd been holding.
"Tch, shit..." she mumbles before turning and leaving the office relatively quickly.
She walks out of the throne room altogether, this time she goes across the hall and out onto the balcony she spotted before. She needed some air, badly.
"Damnit...damnit, what the hell did I just say in there?" she says to herself. Her voice was shaking slightly, and she was grasping the balcony railing especially tightly. "What is...what the hell is wrong with me? Why am I acting like this?"
She thought getting some rest would help, but it seemed to only make things worse. Everyone else was keeping their heads about them, except for herself. She was the only one running around like a decapitated chicken.
"Just that long?" Usagi asks, sounding a bit surprised. "That was only a couple of days ago. From the way you were talking in there, I figured you'd known her for longer than that."
"Has it only been a few days? Huh..it feels like I've known her for alot longer...," Natsume says quietly. "She's had...a very strong impact on my life. I can't explain why...but she makes me want to be a stronger person."
'As much as I don't want to admit it...she did have a point. Why have I been acting this way for someone I only met a few days ago?' Natsume wonders.
She must have started thinking about her barely a day after she met her, by her recollection. That probably was not too unusual, she is very cute, it'd make sense to think about her after seeing her.
'Then when I saw her again at the hospital, I all of a sudden decided that I was in love with her, or at least that I wanted to be,' she thinks. 'It'd only been the second time I'd seen her, if I'm remebering right...'
Love at first sight, or in this case, second? Was she really that bad? She'd only seen that kind of thing in shoujo manga. She had gotten so dressed up for what was supposed to be a simple dinner date at her home, even Kurumi thought it was unusual. Then again, Kurumi thought alot of things she did was unusual.....
'And now...all of this...,' she thought. She glanced back down at the now scabbed over cuts on her hands. First she had attacked herself, now she had just blown up at Usagi for virtually no reason. 'I've practically lost all control of my emotions! Damnit, grandfather trained me to be better than this!'
"I need to slow down...I need to calm down...and I need to start thinking rationally again..." she says. "If I'm this bad at handling stress...than I'm really not worthy of being a senshi..."
Silence is Natsume's only reply - not even the chirping of crickets or the rustle of leaves in the garden below her answers. The stars above continue to shine down, casting a very faint luminescence over the balcony and the greenery in the courtyard below.
"I don't deserve to be up here, not with the way I've been acting," she decides. She looks up at the planet Earth hanging heavily in the sky above. "I should go back to Earth, and stay out of everyone's way..."
Usagi probably was not in the mood to see her again so soon, but she was her only method for returning to Earth...
Usagi doesn't look up as Natsume reenters the study, simply speaking to the other girl as she reads over a rather dusty tome, the title in some language incomprehensible to the dark-haired swordswoman.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Her tone is flat - not openly angry, but not friendly, either.
"I...want to return to Earth," Natsume says quietly.
The book closes with a gentle thump, the worn leather placed carefully back on the massive desk. Usagi looks up at Natsume, her expression neutral as she stands. "Are you ready now?"
"Yes," she answers in the same subdued tone, all the while with her head hung. She lacked the strength to even look Usagi in the eye.
Usagi walks around from behind the desk, coming to stand about a foot away from Natsume. She chants quietly, and a white glow spreads out from the blonde to encompass them both, and then... the briefest instant in which everything is pure white. The next impression Natsume has is of brightness - almost painfully bright. The two girls stand in an alleyway not too far from Natsume's dojo, the bright sun overhead reflecting off the snow on the ground to create a glare that's rather stark after the understated glow lighting the palace of the Moon Kingdom.
Natsume turns to walk out of the alleyway but stops herself before she can take a step.
"A simple 'I'm sorry' isn't enough to take back what I said up there, but I'll say it anyway. I'm sorry," Natsume says. "Reflecting upon my recent behavior, including today, has forced me to realize that I am do not possess the degree of control over my emotions that I have led myself to believe. In fact, it seems I'm quite weak in that particular area."
Was everything she had been feeling up 'till now a result of weakness? Was it sincere? Were they merely randomly shifting outbursts of emotion, or were they truly coming from her soul? Even her recent training seemed erratic.
"As a student of the Kusanagi Seijin Ryuu school, something like that cannot be abided. Because of this, I won't be returning to the moon. As I am now, I don't deserve to be by Ami's side," she continued. "When she gets better, and I'm sure she will, tell her that I need some time to find my center again. I'm not sure how long that will take, but let her know that I do so for the both our sakes."
Usagi looks a bit mollified as Natsume apologizes, but the remainder of the other girl's speech simply elicits a sigh. "I appreciate the apology, but I'm not kicking you out," she says, shaking her head.
"Ami asked for you to be there, and right now she needs all the support she can get. Are you going to take that away from her just because you screwed up? Look, I can understand blowing your top right now - NONE of us can do anything for Ami, and I know exactly how frustrating that is. But just because you made a mistake doesn't mean that you have to throw the entire idea away - that's just being melodramatic."
"Its not just today, its every decision I've made over the past few days up until now," Natsume explains. "As I think back...I'm just not sure of myself anymore. It feels, like I'm slowly losing myself. Huh, maybe I am being melodramatic...maybe this is just another result of the problem...I don't know anymore."
She sighs deeply before turning around to face Usagi again.
"That doesn't mean I'm abandoning Ami, I could never do that to her," she says. "I'll...I'll...I'll come back to tomorrow. Or if anything changes...for the better or worse, tell me and I'll come running."
"All right then," Usagi says, walking Natsume to the door of the dojo. "Call Mugen and leave a message for me when you're ready to come back, and I'll either come and get you or send someone for you."
"Thank you, and once again, I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Natsume says, hanging her head slightly. "I realize how hard you work to regain what you lost. I had no right to denounce your efforts like I did."
"Just let it go, Natsume," Usagi says with a sigh. "I'm just willing to write it off at this point to being stressed out. As long as you don't really think that, there's nothing to worry about."
The two girls arrive on the front step of the dojo. "Like I said, just give me a call when you're ready to come back. I'll see you later, Natsume."
"Yes, goodbye, Usagi-san," Natsume says as she bows deeply.
The blonde nods to Natsume, heading back into the alley from whence the two originated.
OOC - Make an action, Natsume, and I'll move ther abbit elseware.
Natsume watches Usagi go before deciding to amble into her home.
'I can only imagine that grandfather isn't too happy right now,' she thinks as she opens the front door.
Inside, the smells of a warm lunch tickle your nose, drifting all about thanks to the breeze outside. You here the noises of a practice session, the sound of wood splintering and a body moving and impacting here and there against the wood flooring.
"Hah, yeah, I'd nearly forgotten it was lunchtime already," she said. It felt...unusually quiet. This made her feel slightly nervous, but she shrugged it off mostly as she set foot in the kitchen. "Kurumi?"
"Natsume," is the call back from her, as she heads from the kitchen and sighs when she sees you. "What was that about this morning," she asks plainly, her kitchen apron hanging around her neck as she comes to greet you. "You ran off without a word."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that," Natsume says first. "I was visiting a friend, she hasn't been feeling well and her illness kind of took an unusual turn."
Which was about as close to the truth as she could get without naming names.
"I thought it best to go and visit her."
She nods understandingly to that. "I see...that poor girl," Kurumi smiles as nicely as she can. "How is she doing?"
"She's fighting," she answers. "She's a very willful girl, so theres a strong chance she'll pull through, but it will take some time."
She sighs after that. Just thinking about it was not helping her mood much.
"Where...is granfather?"
"He's in the dojo," Kurumi nods. "He knows you went out, and is waiting for you."
"I see. Well, I should've expected as much," Natsume says. "I assumed he would be more....upset at my sudden disappearance."
Then again, whose to say he still wasn't?
She leaves the house and heads out to the dojo. Normally she'd be hesitant to face her grandfather at times like this, but now she felt strangely...calm.
"I have returned, sensei," she announces as she enters, sits on heels and kowtows.
He nods simply, ceasing his dissection of a unfortunate training dummy and quietly going to put aside the wooden sword he used for it. "I heard you left early," he notes, letting you speak.
"Yes, I went to visit a close friend who is distraught with illness," she explains. "She is bedridden for now, but I am certain she will recover from this."
A nod, "That is good," he agrees. "One should not abandon an ill friend."
That last comment certainly stung a little bit.
"Grandfather...I am in need of your guidance," Natsume says. "I...have begun to question myself. I feel as if...as if the control I've spent so many years trying to build is slipping away from me."
He nods once, eyes on you. "What troubles you, Natsume," he asks. "What threatens your control so terribly?"
"As of late, my judgement has been...awry. It feels as if my mind is running on sheer impulse," she says. "I look back and I feel as if certain choices I have made came too rashly. I feel as if my emotions are taking greater hold of me and...I'm not sure whether I should embrace it, to let them run free...or try to reign it in."
Silently, he turns away, as if to study the rack of ceremonial swords instead of you. "Natsume, what happens when a man loses control of his base desires," he asks. "When they cannot or will not regulate their wanton desires, angers and jealouses?"
A beat and a pause, then, "What happens when you lose control in a sparring contest and your anger takes hold, or your desire for combat?"
"If that were to happen...the warrior would lose focus and reveal a critical weakness that could lead to his defeat. Or worse, that weakness could be used to control the warrior against his will," she answers. "But, grandfather. What if the emotion that takes hold is not anger, or lust for battle...but love? Or, at least what you think is love?"
He half turns, speaking carefully. "Natsume, love is important, but it is also a warrior's greatest weakness. IT will bring you to folly like none other." With that, he turns all the way. "Granddaughter...has one captured your heart already?"
"I've...only known the person for a few days...but I already feel like my entire life has been changed," Natsume says. "That person makes me feel like a totally different person at times...and I...I'm sure what to do about it. I'm not sure if its genuine, or if its just my impulses acting on their own."
"I see...." is the solemn reply, as he goes over to the rack, taking two ceremonial wooden blades from it. Tossing one to you to catch, he draws the other. "When the heart is weak, the will and body must be strong," he says, blade in front of and dissecting the view of his face perfectly. "Control breeds control, and weakness brings weakness.
Come," he gestures with his free hand. "Let us put your fralities to rest in the forge of battle and meditation. This is not the time to stumble, Natsume. Not when you are showing this much progress."
So it comes down to this? She wasn't that all surprised, at least this was something she actually understood.
"Yes, sensei," Natsume says as she stands up and takes a forward stance. It felt...strange holding another bokken besides her old one. It would take some time to break in a new one. "I am ready."
The next several hours pass in bone breaking training and bouts of serene meditation. As it goes, you do feel somewhat better, if simply by having the exertion sweat some of the ability to worry out of you. Coming onto later afternoon, Grandfather dismisses you for a little while for bathing, eating and a short rest.
Natsume lays on her bed, staring at some random spot on the ceiling. She contemplates the words passed down from her grandfather.
"Natsume, love is important, but it is also a warrior's greatest weakness. It will bring you to folly like none other."
"Love can be a weakness?" she repeats. Love was certainly capable of making one do strange things. "Love is important, but it can be a weakness if used improperly..."
"When the heart is weak, the will and body must be strong. Control breeds control, and weakness brings weakness."
"I allowed my resolve to weaken, and thus it led to my confusion," she says as she sits up. "I can't let that happen again."
"One should not abandon an ill friend."
'I shouldn't have left. I allowed my own selfish concerns to overcome the need of a friend," she sighs. She had already told Usagi she would return tomorrow, and she had no way of contacting her all the way on the moon. She would just have to live with the consequence, hopefully nothing would happen between now and then. "Hm...wait a minute...."
The teleporter at Mugen Gakuen, perhaps she could use that to return. She had followed Artemis closely, it wouldn't be a problem to retrace her steps...hopefully.
"Hm...should I?" she contemplates. "Well, I certainly have nothing to lose by trying."
No more indecision, should had to be resolute in her decisions from now on.
"I will not wait. She'll need everyone as she long she remains under Celcia's spell," she says as she stands. "Theres no telling what could happen between now and tomorrow, and if anything does, I want to be there."
Though this time, she intended to tell grandfather where she was going.
So resolved, it's merely a matter of finding the Grandfather in question. He is enjoying a cup of tea before the bath, sitting in the living room and taking in the quiet view of outside.
"Natsume," he asks in a murmur, as you approach.
"Grandfather, I'm going to be leaving the house for a while," she says, kneeling down. "The friend I told you about, the one who is stricken, I left her side in order to seek your advice. Now, I must return to her."
"I can't say how long I'll be gone..." she continues. "I wanted to at least let you know where I disappeared to this time around."
A nod to your words. "Go, then," is the reply. "I only hope you do not fall into the traps that have snared so many warriors before, Natsume." Finishing his tea and putting aside the cup, "Let Kurumi know as well - she worried about you this morning."
"Thank you, grandfather," she says before standing up. She quickly goes to the dojo to fetch a bokuto to take with her before going to find her younger sister...
Kurumi is in her room, you find - napping. She half looks up as you peek in, sleeply. "'sume-chan..." she says groggily. "Whazzit?"
"Kurumi," Natsume says as she enters the room. "I'm going to be going out for a while. I...can't say when I'll be back, but it should be soon, I hope."
"Going out again," she manages, sitting up in her bed and rubbing her eyes, before looking up to you. "Where are you going?"
"The friend I told you who is ill, I...kind of left her behind to come back here, so I'm going back to be by her side," Natsume explains. "If anything happens, I want to be there."
Blinking away her fatigue and swinging around to get out of bed, "Oh. I hope she's better soon, Natsume. Get going," she adds with a smile.
"Alright, I'll be going then. I'll give her your regards," Natsume says as she leaves her sister's room. It was getting alot easier for her to...distort the facts to her family. That did not give her a good feeling. 'One of these days I'm going to have to tell them the truth.'
She rushes out the door and makes a beeline for Mugen Gakuen. She finds herself standing at the front gate before too long, now there was the issue of remembering exactly HOW to get to the teleportation unit....
The sun sets early this time of year, and it's doing so as you arrive. The doors and gate are closed, only the huge ediface of the sixty story building looming over you. Chilly, too, with no one about that you notice.
The gates were high, but not impassable. She backs up a ways to get a running start. The leap sends her clear over the barricade, but she lands with a bit of a stumble. That never was her strong point...
"We went through the front entrance doors, I think," she says to herself as she approaches them, and finding them locked. "Damnit...I should've known...what now?"
She looks around to her left and right, trying to spy some sort of alternative.
As you look around, there is a shimmer out of the corner of your eye. "Natsume," Cyprine asks, her twin at her back. "We felt you approaching while down here...are you looking for something?"
"Ah, Cyprine, Tellu," Natsume says, hoping she got their names right. "Yes...I was trying to find a way back to the Moon. I was hoping to use the teleporter, but it seems I'm stuck outside."
"Ptilol," Cyprine corrects, as the named girl frowns slightly. "Cyprine and Ptilol. Anyway," she moves on, "We'll take you back up there if you want - we don't need to bother with the teleporter."
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm still trying to learn everyone's names," Natsume apologized with an embarrassed flush on her face before hearing their offer for transport. "Oh, really? That would be great! I'd be very grateful."
Ptilol stays out of sight, only her red blouse wearing back visible. Cyprine's blue blouse is a contrast to that, as she smiles understandingly, even chuckling. "Sure, we'll take you," she nods, as you see Ptilol stomp her foot in annoyance.
'Eheh, is this not the first time someone has gotten her name wrong?' Natsume thinks nervously at the fuming sister. Though she hoped it was something else that was gaining ire. "Well, I'm ready whenever you are."
Cyprine nearly laughs. "Nevermind," she extends her hand. "Take my hand and we'll go, Natsume." Ptilol grumbles, faintly and inaudibly heard, her hands lacing with her sister's one open hand, while the other waits for yours.
Natsume carefully takes Cyprine's hand into her own. She recalled from the mall incident that the twins had some very interesting abilities. Apparently interplanetary teleportation was one of them.
You are drawn into them, as....it's a slight jolt, then a reapperance. Again the fairytale halls of the Moon are around you, as you appear in the garden from before. The Twins waste no time, you rhand let go as they head to the spread open plant grove, and Ami...
Natsume takes a moment to gather herself after the sensation of teleportation before following the twins. Everything seemed to be the same as when she left a few hours before, but she decided to ask anyway...
"Has anything changed?"
Usagi is also there inside, kneeling besides Ami. The Twins look down at her, seeing Ami's flesh toned neck and watery, pale blue arms. "I think so," Cyprine comments, giving Usagi a curious look, as if an unspoken question was going from woman to woman.
Usagi nods. "Better," she murmurs, half to herself. Giving Natsume a glance, she addresses her answer to the blue-haired twin. "Her aura's a bit more distinct than it was this morning, and she seems to be a bit more rested. Artemis said she stirred once, but didn't actually completely wake up - other than that, not much since she passed out again."
That was somewhat good news at least, even though it looked like the 'cold' was still spreading.
'At least there's still hope,' she thinks.
The blonde stands, once again clad in the garb of the Lunar princess. "She seems to be resting peacefully enough, anyway. Nothing more to do except wait."
She sighs, shaking her head as she looks down at the blue-haired girl. "Keep fighting, Ami-chan... I know you can beat her."
She could feel the solemn quiet against her skin. She really did not know what to say that would be appropriate at a time like this...
"If only there were a way to go inside your soul, to fight with you..." she whispers. "But thats a sacred territory only you can tread..."
As you watch, Ami gasps, stirring slightly. Her eyes flutter, as she breaths in a sudden and gulping breath of air. "Ami," Cyprine asks, the two twins tensing at this carefully.
At seeing the sudden activity in the once comatose girl, Natsume goes down to one knee to get a closer look.
Usagi quickly turns her attention to the prostrate girl, kneeling by her side. "Ami-chan?" she says, looking to see if it's really Ami waking up or just stirring again, like Artemis had described before.
Her energy appears to be rising, as if she was indeed waking. She stirs once more, breathing deeply and rapidly, as her eyes open...
Ami - as you race to the light, reality catches up to you. You find yourself huffing for air, as hazy images appear. Usagi...Natsume....Ptilol...Cyprine....
"Hahhh...." Ami gasps, straining to bring the images of her friends into sharper focus, panting softly with exertion. At the sound of the voice of the lunar princess, Ami looks over at the blonde tiredly. "'s'me...Usagi-chan."
The blonde smiles, taking Ami's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Glad to hear it, Ami-chan," she says quietly. "How are you feeling?"
"Thank God, you're finally awake," Natsume said with utmost relief. "I just hope it'll stay this way..."
Ami just shakes her head and sighs. "I...don't know. I've made some progress, but..." trailing off, she examines her blue arms for the talisman, and checks in her subspace pocket.
Your Talisman appears at your call, in your hands easily enough.
"Don't try and strain yourself," Natsume says. "You've come this far, no need to burn yourself out now."
Ami smiles, a bit wearily, and looks up at Usagi and Natsume, and nods to the latter. " I won't. But I've dealt with one, now the other is all that's left."
"Dealt with one? What do you mean?" Natsume asks, concerned. "I...Is there something else besides Celcia?"
Ami shakes her head, smiling an holding up her talisman. "Not anymore." she explains, smiling softly. "I'm a bit tired, but I'm really okay." she assures the dark haired girl.
"Just take it easy, Ami," Usagi replies, smiling at the sight of the Talisman. Just to be sure, she examines Ami's aura to make sure that the mystic object is no longer entangled with Ami's own aura.
It isn't, mostly, but it's still terribly messy.
"A...Ah, yeah," Natsume says simply, smiling at seeing Ami's smile. Here she was fighting hard against such a malevolent force, while she had run away simply because she was having a crisis of faith. 'Ami, you're alot stronger than I am, moreso than you probably think.'
"Um. Celcia worries me..." Ami begins, rather awkwardly, wanting to know what Usagi, Natsume and the twins might make of what she's seen. "I...discovered how to look into her memories...She might be suffering from mental trauma."
Ami bites her lip. "On top of that, the circumstances under which she aquired her more advanced powers...criminally insane comes to mind. I'm not sure I'm equipped to handle what's coming." she ventured timidly, self-doubt peeking though once again.
'Mental trauma? That certainly would explain a few things,' Natsume thought. "We'll do anything you want of us. If there's anything we can do to help, just say it."
Ami smiles at Natsume, grateful for the support, at least. "I wish I could think of something. I'd take you up on that in a minute. But...I can't." she sighs. "I have to face off with a potential psycho or sociopath on my own, and inside my soul..." she adds in a lower voice, and draws her knees up to her chest, hugging them.
Usagi rubs her friend's back gently. "You've already beaten her once, Ami-chan, or she never would have gotten stuck in your Talisman in the first place. I know you can do it again - just remember that even if we can't be next to you fighting her, we're here to support you. I know you can beat her, Ami."
"I wish we could be in there with you, but I don't know if its possible to enter another person's soul," Natsume says quietly. "The closest I think of...I recall my grandfather mentioning certain kinds of group meditation that create something like a collective dream-state, but...I've never done or seen anything like that before, I don't even know if its the same thing."
Usagi shakes her head. "The only way I know it can be done is through a mindlink." She glances up at the Twins. "And right now, I really doubt Ami could go through that - I don't know for sure, but I'd guess there'd be a chance of Celcia transferring to anyone who tried to link with her right now. There are just too many unknowns to really risk trying it."
"If only there were so many to least take some of the pressure off of you," Natsume says with a sigh. "If I could give you some of my energy I gladly would but...I doubt it'd be enough."
Cyprine slowly nods, followed by Ptilol. "It would be terribly risky, especially if Celcia could follow the link to another body," Cyprine warns. "She's shown that she can do something close to that already."
"That's what I figured," Usagi replies, shaking her head. "I'm all for doing everything we can to help, but we don't want to make things worse in the process."
Glancing over at Natsume, she shakes her head. "I could probably direct energy from any of us into Ami, but right now it's almost impossible to make sure that she'll be the one who gets that energy. With Celcia that tangled up, she could grab the energy before it ever got to Ami."
"I see," Natsume said, disheartened at Usagi's answer. Every time at aid was thwarted merely by the ice witch's presence. She was far more devious than she had initially imagined.
She would just have to accept that, as much as she did not want to.
"Ami-chan...you said Celcia might've suffered some kind of mental trauma? What happened to make you think that?" Natsume asks, trying to change the subject to something more useful.
Ami chews a little on her bottom lip. "Something....happened to her, while she was in the crystal prison." Ami replies quietly. "I saw the memory while she was around, and she went absolutely beserk reminded of it. Some sort of being that was...I want to say mysterious, but it's more likely it was simply far beyond our comprehension. It...violated her, somehow. I can't explain it, but it was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen..." Ami murmured, sympathy for her foe welling up in her voice.
"I...see," Natsume manages to get out after hearing the description. The source of Celcia's damaged psyche came from what could be described as the worst kind of abuse a woman could suffer. It was painful just to think about it. "As atrocious as it was, it still doesn't excuse everything Celcia has done. Using innocents to her own ends, endangering the lives of countless people, attempting to warp the world into her own twisted vision, all of that was calculated. Don't let your sympathy for her plight cloud your vision of what she truly is now."
"I know, but..." Ami sighs softly. "It happened because we put her there...I can't help but feel a bit responsible."
"And remember WHY she was put in there, Ami," Usagi says quietly. "Don't get me wrong - from what you said, it sounds horrible. But she never would have been in there in the first place if not for what she did to get put there."
"I know." Ami replies in a small voice. "I...saw her parents. She froze them to death." She rubs anxiously at the bridge of her nose. "I wonder if I would have been driven mad by my power if I had manifested it as young as she did?" Ami seculates morosely.
"My only worry is...I'm not sure what will happen. If I kill her inside me...will she be expelled? Die for real? Where will those memories and powers go? Into me?"
"I'm hoping that once you start to get the upper hand more, I can step in from outside and purify her out of you," Usagi answers. "It's just that right now, I'm afraid of hurting you in the process if I try it - but the more you fight her, the more distinct your spirit gets in comparison to hers. Hopefully, once it's strong enough, I can just purify you from there."
Ami nods and smiles tremulously. "Mmm...Hai, but...how will you know?" Ami asks seriously, with a slight, soft edge to her voice, seeking reassurance.
"When I get the upper hand, I can't let up, or she retakes the initiative." Ami explains. "I...may be forced to kill her, if that's possible."
"I DON'T know for sure, Ami," Usagi admits. "All I can do is try to judge when the best time will be. If it doesn't come, and you do have to kill her, then do what you have to - she's got to be stopped, one way or another."
Ami makes a face, but nods and smiles a little, as though she'd already known, but needed to hear it out loud. "I understand." she replies softly, setting her jaw. "I'll do what I need to."
"If she is as mentally unwound as you say she is, Ami-chan," Natsume says. "Then...perhaps, if it comes to that, death would be a release for her. Whose to say that isn't what she is seeking now..."
Ami blinks, Celcia's ravings about being touched by ice beginning to make more sense, in that respect. "Perhaps...Perhaps you're right, Natsume-chan...It certainly would fit..." she muses, rubbing her eyes. "I wish I didn't have to be the one to do it, but I suppose I chose the job for myself when I pulled her into my talisman."
OOC - Usagi, Soul check. Ami, soul check -2.
As you lie there, your body aches dully. The heat of the garden is unpleasant, yet..ugh....
You don't feel so well, suddenly.
<Halbarad> roll 2d6 for soul
* Hatbot --> "Halbarad rolls 2d6 for soul and gets 6."
<Ami-chan> roll 2d6-2
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6-2 and gets 1."
Usagi - You see Ami's entwined energy flare and clash suddenly, a great storm of blue and whites meeting in a brutal brawl.
Ami - You gasp as your body hurts, then as....you feel HER fingers across you, assaulting and prying...
Ami arches sharply, gasping with she shock of the pain, crying out and suddenly curling into a ball, trying to resist with a bewildered shock, squeezing her eyes shut, and trying to push the pain down, manage it somehow...
Usagi grimaces at the sudden and violent meeting of energies, taking the opportunity to squeeze Ami's hand. "Hang on, Ami-chan - you've been beating her so far, just keep it up."
OOC - Ami, Soul check.
* Hatbot --> "Ana rolls 2d6 and gets 5."
<Ami-chan> roll 2d6
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6 and gets 7."
You shove back as best you can, as you feel her ripping at you...
Ami shudders, as the spectral claws of her nemesis wrack her body and spirit. Her cry of pain is heartbreaking, even as you feel her energies doing battle against the ferocious assault.
HurtbadpaininsidesonfirehurtshurtshurtsgoAWAY! Ami writhes, shaking as she tries to curl in on herself tighter, shoving hard against the her unseen tormentor, almost spiritually flailing, desperate to get away, as, as if from a great distance, a sob burts from her throat...
"Ami!" Natsume shouts, taken a back momentarily by Ami's sudden pain wracked spasms. She quickly grasps the girl's other hand, hoping to lend some kind of support. "Please, whatever happens, never forget the faith we all have in you. Remember the bokuto I gave you that night, I gave it to you because I knew it would be in the hands of someone with an exceptionally strong spirit. Make your spirit into a sword and you can strike down anything! I know it."
Natsume's words echo in Ami's mind, as she thrusts and lashes out at the spiritual war...
OOC - Soul check +1, Ami, and make a reaction if you like.
* Hatbot --> "Mistress_Ami rolls 2d6+1 and gets 11."
Ami arches upa gain, going rigid before collasping hard on the ground. Her breathing labors before settling, as her auras fade back into her inner spirit again. An intense burst of cold comes from her body, icing over the plants here and causing you to shiver! (5 damage to all in the area)
Cyprine and Ptilol grit their teeth at this, quickly chanting as a sphere of red and blue energy appears around Ami. It knocks Natsume back, as the icy and frozen genious continues her battle.
The sudden blast of cold and the force of being thrown back stun Natsume momentarily. By the time she gets her wits about her Ami has once again 'stabilized', if it could be called that. At least her body was not reacting violently to the struggle anymore.
"I almost think she's doing this on purpose," she says. "Lulling her into a false sense of safety before striking again."
Ami stays there, as the Twins sigh. "She's still in trouble," Cyprine notes. "Celcia continues to fight her..."
With that, "You may be right...but we just need to wait now," Ptilol agrees, sitting down.
"I expected as much," Natsume says with a sigh at hearing of the restart of the waiting game again. "I know this will all be over eventually...I just hope it comes sooner rather than later."
She gripped her bokuto tightly. It was only a matter of time, she hoped with a certainty.
Okay, I'm just going to lead into this in the IRC session. Topic locked.