[HC Event] Nightmare

Outer Senshi Admin Roleplay Director

Dreamworld

Background Summary:

The Sailor Wars have been raging for over half a year.

It started suddenly and brutally. Chaotic forces on planets throughout the Milky Way attacked in unison, quickly overwhelming the Sailor Guardians of the respective worlds; only those who banned together were able to push back the army of darkness that spread, but wiping out Chaos on one planet did little in the grand scheme of this war. While the leader of the Chaotic Army was seemingly absent, his generals did well to direct forces in his absence, and the Guardians of the Sailor Queens had to organize the Senshi of their sectors in order to stem the flow of evil that marched against them.

The Sailor Queens themselves were pinned down - unable to truly fight as a Sailor Warrior any longer, it was up to them to use their Crystals to push back the miasma of darkness that would otherwise strengthen the forces of Chaos within their borders; so long as they lived, the Senshi within their zones of influence fighting to save the galaxy would have a chance, but the moment they fell, the vacuum of energy left in their wake would weaken their soldiers, and the miasma that filled it would fill them with dread even as it strengthened their enemies against their attacks.

The strongest of all the Sailor Queens - the Queen of Crystal Tokyo - protected the greatest area of stars, her influence covering nearly half the galactic disc; to protect her, barriers were erected around the Solar System, allowing nothing and no one to enter. Her own Sailor Guardians, some of the oldest and most skilled within the Galaxy, set off in all directions to save as many planets as they could, to organize the Senshi they came across, and systematically eradicate Chaos from within their borders. To this end, Sailor Jupiter and King Endymion stayed behind with Neo Queen Serenity, the latter to aid her in her efforts to keep Chaos at bay, the former to organize senshi volunteers and send them where they were most needed, using the complex computer system of Crystal Tokyo to keep track of Chaos's advances.

The war had not been going well. They were scrambled and short-staffed - they got the word out the best they could so senshi on planets who had yet to be affected could elect to help them, but that sudden first attack had killed many of their number, and their worlds were now strongholds for the Chaotic armies; attacking such places and reclaiming them were distant goals; their immediate futures wrapped up in preventing more planets from being taken as opposed to recapturing worlds already lost to them.

Four months in, the leader of the Chaotic Army surfaced, and the wave of Chaos intensified. ***

On his heels, a group of senshi emerged with an explanation for both his absence and theirs, coming back from an adventure that had taken them days, but wherein months had passed outside that system. They brought with them a woman who had defected from the Chaos Army who revealed that the trap that they had fallen into had been set for the Crystal Tokyo senshi of the Solar System, a trap that, had it been successful, would have made the Chaotic takeover of the Milky Way child's play. For ruining that plan, the Chaotic Prince had sent forth seeds of chaos to the planets of those senshi that would dig deep and eventually take over the core of their worlds.

To fight this, the senshi split up, went to those affected worlds, and eradicated the threat; all except one. The seed of chaos took root on one planet - Enyalius - and the senshi of that world was corrupted, her power source turned from Cosmos to Chaos, and she became the first Senshi of this Sailor War to turn sides, overturning the safeguards that had been put in place since Galaxia's Sailor War nearly a millennia ago. She escaped to her homeworld, and senshi of that original team, lead by her lover, Sailor Achelois, followed, set on healing her or killing her, should that prove impossible.

It did, and she died by her partner's hands; as her crystal went to rejoin the Cauldron, it was taken by the Chaos Prince with the intent to use the crystal's power to further his cause. Furious, Sailor Achelois followed him to Sagittarius Zero Star, her friends and allies joining her yet again in this attempt to save the Galaxy and stop the Chaos Leader once and for all. In the end, they won. The Prince was dead, his army without a head. Sailor Achelois saved the Enyalius crystal, and, in attempting to revive her partner, ended up making a deal with The Crone, a powerful, mysterious force for Cosmos, and traded her future for the lives of all of the senshi killed since the start of the Sailor War. Once the deal was struck, Sailor Crystals exploded from the Cauldron like a thousand thousand shooting stars, each returning to where they had died to take up the fight once more, surprising Chaos forces that had thought themselves immune to Senshi attacks in their strongholds.

Events described above:

*** Elsewhere:

The War had turned in their favor, but the process to eradicate Chaotic forces from previously peaceful planets was neither quick nor easy.

***Today***

Two months have passed since the Rebirth of the Stars, the event named for the sight of the Sailor Crystals returning home, and while Senshi were still locked in battle, a secret meeting was called between Senshi Leaders to discuss tactics and receive reports and to organize forces for their final push. Senshi volunteers gathered at this meeting as well rather than going home; with Sailor Jupiter awaiting reports from this conclave to decide where best to send them, those in attendance believed that this central meeting point would serve them best in getting to where they were most needed.

They met on a world near the center of the galaxy within Neo Queen Serenity's territory, the light of the Imperium Silver Crystal keeping the Chaotic miasma at bay. The world is a small terrestrial, its home civilization similar to Earth's circa 2000AD, and the Senshi are meeting in a small city in an upscale hotel with a convention center, the nondescript place decided upon to lessen the likelihood that they would be found out or spied upon. To the people of the city, they were simply important foreign, and somewhat eccentric, dignitaries. The request is made of all "guests" to remain within the hotel property; while the world is aware of the existence of aliens, having so many at one spot may prove to be... disconcerting.

The meeting began and participants quickly separated, choosing different informational sessions to attend, furthering their own training and giving them tips and tricks to take back with them when they returned to their home sector* to teach other senshi on their various missions - the more information shared, the better.

Panels and descriptions:

Timeslot	Room A	Room B	Room C
1	System-Wide Defense Fields -Technology- Sailor Mercury	Techniques for Decreasing Ability Cast Time -Training- Sailors Mars and Venus	Motivating Teams Effectively -Leadership- Sailor Perun
2	Small-Scale Energy Barriers -Technology- Sailor Shango	Tactical Team Organization -Leadership- Sailor Venus	Citizen Defense Forces: Helping Civilians Help Themselves -Resources- Sailors Mu and Chalybs
3	Advanced Enemy Analytics and Statistics -Technology- Sailor Wuluwaid	Techniques for Regaining Enemy Strongholds -Tactics- Sailor Mars	Maintaining Team Morale -Leadership- Sailor Perun
4	Directing Group Decisions -Leadership- Sailor Quetzal	Survival Skills and Improved Defensive Maneuvers -Training/Resources- Sailor Enlil	Practical Application of Healing Abilities -Tactics- Sailor Shango

1B: Theory and practice; harnessing emotions and attaching said emotions to the attacks themselves to trigger the attacks without need of yelling out their name. Practice transforming on the run (literally), but as they were nearly always transformed nowadays, it progressed to aiming attacks at targets and paying attention to the energy signature of the attack. How it made them feel beneath their emotions, and memorizing that energy signature to call it back faster and faster.
1C: A quick study in psychology with tips and techniques to turn bad situations around within a group setting and providing a metaphorical carrot to keep things moving smoothly; emphasis was paid to situations they had been facing recently, including defeat, depression, death of a teammate, and situations wherein the people they worked with did not want to be there or did not value the mission. Light roleplay was involved, with characters taking up different roles in given situations and swapping out who would take on the leadership role and get the "team" moving again.
2A: Small, spherical devices were handed out to all participants that, when activated, would erect a particle barrier that would keep anything from entering or exiting. The panel was spent showing basically how the device works, how to use the device - whether placed, thrown, or triggered from a distance. Warnings were given about setting the "ghost" time for the barrier - the time it took for the barrier to materialize and "solidify", as much as pure energy would solidify - and the "battery life" of the device, as well as how difficult it could be to go about "recharging" it on various worlds.

Pros: versatile - can be used for offense (as a bomb), defense (as an impenetrable shell), and capture (of enemies)

Cons: nothing can get through until it is taken down - including air. Battery life can keep it activated for five minutes at a time. Has no connection to senshi - can be captured and used against them, must be recovered.

Sailor Bastet and Sailor Alshain gain an "Energy Barrier" ball.
2B: Practice in organizing well-balanced groups to be most effective when choosing from a large pool; practice with giving out duties, lists given for potential "small scale" duties for less-experienced senshi when shadowing an experienced teammate is out of the question; practice with organizing "thrown together" groups of volunteers that happened upon the same site at the same time. Practice with quickly learning about a senshi's abilities and connecting them to goal-specific tasks. Activities included practice within the room itself; randomly assigning groups and goals (defend a city, capture a city, find the enemy, etc.) and had participants figure things out with those who were actually there.
2C: General rundown of how to evaluate whether a planet's defenses would be adequate to protect them from the Chaos invading their worlds, considering technology and preparedness. Tips for approaching the active military on those worlds - cautions against engagement when the world is not united under one government and so would have multiple political structures in play if the Chaos attack is large-scaled and not contained within one region. Information on what to tell military leaders, hints to give soldiers for fighting against Chaotic manifestations. Ways to communicate with power structures put in place and the nearest senshi outpost - if it existed - should their fight prove too much. Organizing small scale militias when there weren't enough senshi in the region.
3A: What to look for when using scanners on chaotic enemies and generals; energy signals that can indicate whether an enemy can shapeshift, whether it can grow or shrink in size, whether it can control the minds of those around it, whether it can fly, whether it was stronger or faster or had higher defense than normal. Small scanners were handed out to participants who did not have any scanner technology, warned, however, that the scanner can be used by anybody, not just senshi.

Shadow gains a set of energy-sensor goggles.
3B: Rundown of basic "fortresses" Chaos typically put in place and where their weaknesses fell. A lot of analyzing recorded fortresses and planning how the participants would work their way in to take it over or destroy it; their plans were compared against the recorded plans that had succeeded, and discussions were had on where teams went wrong or what they could have done differently to be more effective or efficient.
3C: Another quick study in psychology for keeping spirits up when bad things happened; this panel differed from the Motivation panel in that the focus was on supporting teammates' morale rather than figuring out how to keep everyone moving.
4A: Similar to Motivation panel, but emphasis put on how to become the leader of your group when no leader is appointed. Emphasis placed on how to direct your team's attention to things you believe are important, how to listen to teammates and incorporate ideas to give ownership, and what to say and how to say "this is what I think we should do, and this is why you should do it."
4B: A course more on nature and how to survive the elements more than anything. What to look for in finding a safe place to rest, what to initially avoid in new environments, common nature-traps; the panel could be compared to "scouts in weird places: how to stay alive before you fight that battle." The Defensive Maneuvers portion was also skewed to using an environment to your advantage, but digressed into basic movement patterns to keep an eye in more directions, and then devolved from there into guerrilla warfare tactics.
4C: A quick crash-course in how to evaluate a team to determine who to heal first in an emergency or a fight, and techniques for not feeling guilty (or techniques to comfort your healer for feeling guilty) when literally putting the life of one teammate above others. Basic strategy was healer first, then the leader or tactician, then the head defender, then the strongest attacker, and finally anybody and everybody else. Soft talk about how healing is more difficult than it appears, how while healers may not be on the front line of the attack, they are on the front lines for emotional and mental turmoil. When things go wrong, when people die, the healer is often blamed first, by herself and her teammates; the nonhealers in the panel were politely asked to stand up for their healer if this happened, and the healers were reminded that if they did their best, no one could blame them.

But then... Two hours after the start of dinner, as the first day of the conclave came to a close, a small sampling of the senshi gathered started to fall asleep.

Some of these seemed natural - some were already in their rooms, or were hanging out with friends in the lounge, seeming to doze off after a long, information-packed day.

Others... were less so. Girls falling into their desserts, dead asleep; some drifted off mid-conversation, mid drink, mid joke, mid laugh; some fell asleep while dancing, while walking, while swimming.

Though caught, rescued, or gently laughed good-naturedly over... none of them would wake up.

These fallen senshi were gathered into a central area, placed on cots provided by the hotel, and put under medical surveillance. For all they could tell, they were just sleeping, yet they could not be woken up. Alarmingly, every now and again vitals would show that the sleepers would slip into a coma, and despite the best medical efforts, could not be brought out again. Thinking quickly to use the resources available to them, Sailor Enlil of the Tuppi Sumati sector sent a message to Queen Tiamat to request the aid of a sailor senshi who could interact with people's dreams, hoping that this senshi - Sailor Somnus - would be able to awaken the sleepers from within. When Sailor Somnus arrived, however, what she found was that there was something acting to keep these senshi sleeping, some powerful force that rejected her best efforts to interfere, and that the senshi were not dreaming alone - rather, groups of the two-score senshi were paired together, and apparently working their way through settings from their past. Somnus attempted to send a message through to them, but was unable to communicate the full warning. This involvement resulted in an odd discovery:

There were two versions of a senshi walking around.

Within the dream Somnus identified Sailor Aegle to be among the other senshi of that particular group, and yet Sailor Aegle was awake and within the room, rather than unconscious and on a cot. In an attempt to check her identity, Sailor Venus requested she reveal her Sailor Crystal, a feat Sailor Aegle was unable to perform, and so was taken away for further questioning.

Moments later, the majority of the group Somnus had visited fell into a coma - five of them at once and together.

Fearing casualties, the conscious senshi put together a plan to infiltrate the dream world and stop whatever chaotic force that was controlling it in an attempt to free their friends.

Quote :: Setting****
This takes place within the Dreamworld; characters may know the general rules before they enter, but everything within the dream seems real, so being tricked or fooled by what they see is the norm; constant reminders that it is a dream should be made in character.

Note to players: If the character dies in the dreamworld, they may die outside the real world.

What is a Hardcore Event?

Event Rules and Information:

Hardcore Events wrote:

Hardcore Events
Hardcore events are a sampling of all the Roleplaying Section has to offer: profile approvals, live-chat sessions, dungeon crawler game elements, and a one-month time limit to complete the story or get a bad ending.

Duration:
One month exactly, unless a problem arises with the host, in which case the event will be extended for the number of days the host was absent.
If the storyline is not resolved within a month's time, the mission fails.
General Rules:
All roleplay rules and gc rules apply
Activity Rule: Participants are required to post within 24-48 hours or will be removed from the event (their characters will either be lost or replaced).
Random Events may be introduced into the story if all players are active within the OOC chat or on the boards; Random Events are storyline plot events in which players will have a limited time to respond before consequences are enacted; each will come with a caveat in that if you cannot respond within the given time-frame, you may request another player's character take your character with them (if movement is required).
Consistency Rule: All players are held to the understanding that they will pay attention to the story flow, taking note of roleplay elements (situational - who's talking to who, where people are located, etc) and event elements (their HP, MP, the placement of others on the map, etc.). If a player derails the event with inconsistencies, consequences will occur.
Requirements:
Character Profile - Participants are required to have their character's profile submitted and approved before the event begins. *Advanced Hardcore Events require advanced character profiles.
Word Requirement - Advanced Hardcore Events require minimum 100-word posts.
Additional Elements:
Real Time RP - some Hardcore Events will have real-time rp sessions to start, end, or move the story along. Participants are required to have a skype account for these live-chat events if they don't want their character NPC'd through those instances.
Dungeon Crawler - some Hardcore Events will have dungeon-crawler game elements to them, wherein players will need to distribute attribute points to reflect their characters strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities, and will need to prescribe MP requirements to attacks. During these events, they will be at the mercy of random number generators (digital Dungeons and Dragons style die) for attacks and defense rolls to minimize godmodding and/or powerplaying.
Certain Events officially happen within the Galaxy Cauldron's Crystal Tokyo Timeline and so can be added to character's histories, instead of just their Storyline Information sections. Participating in these events, whether playing an original character or a canon character, can have consequences within this timeline we're creating together - characters can become famous, can make enemies and allies, and can, through storyline events, grow and develop as characters and let that development follow them through the overarching plot. The current Otaku-inclusive event train is as follows:
Silver Crystal Sector
The Collector -> Decay -> Return to Zenar -> Remnants -> Andromeda Spire -> Leviathan Core -> Fields of Enyalius -> Light in Darkness --> Continuation
Tapestry Crystal Sector
Conscription -> Conviction -> Conflagration -> Consecration --> Continuation
Note, therefore, that choices have consequences in these games. Characters can die in these events if their HP goes less than 0 (in some circumstances), and therefore will not be allowed back into the chain after that event, and players who set stories in their character's 'future' may stipulate that a 'dead' character not participate because in their character's canon, that character is dead. This does not happen often.
On Character Knock-Out:
On Character Death:

New Character Creation Guidelines wrote:

New Senshi characters are allowed to join this RP with a few conditions:

The senshi must have an approved Advanced profile. Profiles may be adopted from our Otaku Adoption Center, but they must be modified so that they are advanced and follow all of the guidelines in this list. If you need help or clarification, discord DM me.
The senshi cannot be from Earth, the Solar System, the Silver Sector (within 50,000 lightyears of Earth (first set of events)) or the Tapestry Sector (within 30,000 lightyears of Zhi (second set of events)).
Available Sectors (named after the Queen's crystal) and the Queen's court senshi in attendance at this conclave:
---Sacbeob Sector, ruled by Queen Kukulkan; representative Sailor Quetzal
---Tuppi Sumati Sector, ruled by Queen Tiamat; representative Sailor Enlil
---Tsetse Sector, ruled by Queen Bumba; representative Sailor Shango
---Kanmare Sector, ruled by Queen Kunapipi; representative Sailor Wuluwaid
---Bogatyr Sector, ruled by Queen Mikula; representative Sailor Perun
*When making your profile, your senshi will know the name of their sector, it's general location (see me), their Queen (whether they met her before or not), and will at least be of acquaintance with their Queen's Representative; if you would like to use this representative in your character's backstory, see me for her general personality trait.
map:
The senshi must be named after their planet or the star of their system; senshi named after concepts, seasons, with two names, etc. (aka Sailor Flower, Sailor Time, Sailor Spring, Sailor Winter Evening) will be requested to make a name change to participate in these events. ((suggestions will be offered if requested))
The senshi must exist in this timeline - ~1000 years into Crystal Tokyo and the Neo Silver Millennium (Crystal Millennium); no time travelers.
At this point, there are practically no "new senshi"; there are young senshi (please no awakenings before age 13), there are novice senshi, but any "new" senshi has, at this point, either been serving actively for up to 6 months in outright full-scale bloody-and-until-weeks-ago-losing war-with-chaos conditions, or was murdered, died, and came back to life 2 months ago in the exact spot that she died; if she's alive now, she's seen some stuff. At this point they should know their powers and their limits.
---No more than 5 abilities per senshi. Younger senshi should have fewer abilities. Future abilities may be included in the profile but may not be able to be used within the event.
They must have attended the Conclave outlined in the Continuation event; while the player might not have participated, their character had to have been there; when signing up / creating your profile, choose from the panels listed in the rundown above to state what conferences your senshi attended (or sat out of) so we can figure out which other characters they would have made acquaintance of throughout the day. In your RP Sample for this new character, make a "final post" like snippet from the Continuation event; have them reflect on what they did that day and end it with them falling asleep.

Note: For this specific HC Event, all profiles must be approved by October 14 to give ample time to get HC stats and abilities settled before the event begins.

Event Begins January 14.

Reminders:

Pay attention to the story. Read every post so you don't miss anything. Major Plot Points will be delivered through me - either via DM Quote within a post or bolded within my character posts. I will announce, for example,w hen we find objects/people, and what things look like when prompted. I will arrange for enemies to fight and I'll handle the combat system to determine hit/miss and damage dealt/healing.
Needless to say, if you don't pay attention to the story, your character's reactions / ideas / etc. may be out of place and will be treated as such by other characters. All RP Section rules are in effect for this HC Event, including the rule that you cannot go back and edit the substance of a post once someone has posted after you. Read Carefully.
Activity Rule: Post once every 48 hours or your character will fade from the Dreamworld and expelled from the Event. The Activity Rule is in place to keep things moving, which can't happen if one character is waiting on another to post! If an emergency comes up IRL and you need an extra day, tell me and I'll carry your character for that third day.
Keep watch on Discord: OOC messages and game announcements will be made there (and I mean ooc chatter and who doesn't like that? ... if it's you, remember I @everyone when I make big announcements).
Random Active Time Events can happen! - if the majority of players are active in the Discord Channel I may spring Random Events on the characters that players will need to react to within a few hours time or something bad happens! These will always be announced in the Discord conversation with an @everyone attached; discord will be open for questions/comments/concerns and will always come with the caveat that if you are online but unable to post, arrange with a player in Discord to move your character for you; if you are not online at the time that player will be me. Instructions will need to be followed else consequences are wordlessly accepted for not following any outlined specific directions.
This is an Advanced Event. All posts outside battle are required to be 100 words or more.
Bold battle choices and actions that you would like me as the DM to respond to. Want to ask an NPC a question? Bold it~ Want to attack a tree? Bold it~ Want to attack an enemy with magic? Bold the attack name~ And remember please~ if your character didn't attend the "Decreasing ability time" panel and their ability has a title, they'll have to say it for best effectiveness~

Characters in the Nightmare

Shadow - Jasper
Sailor Hemera - Bubbles - Sailor Neptune
Sailor Alshain - Anait Zelleire
Sailor Aegle(?!) - Kyra - Sailor Uranus
Sailor Roshar - Britchan
Sailor Nyx - Light
Sailor Valdis - Verdi - Sailor Saturn
Sailor Somnus - Kyra - Sailor Uranus
Xtal-Diamante - Aurae - Sailor Mercury

Character Sheets

Stats

Handwave

It would be risky.

Somnus admitted she had never taken more than one person into someone's dreamscape with her, but this method... could be possible. To get them all on the same wavelength first with a simultaneous daydream, then settle them to sleep, and collect their consciousnesses like picking up sticks and whisking them off into a dreamwalk - it could be possible, especially if they already share strong bonds or keep their goals in mind: to defeat Chaos and rescue the captive consciousness of those sleeping senshi.

The hard part would be in breaking into the dreams; upon thinking further on it, Somnus theorized the consciousness behind it was swapping dream "owners" to keep it constantly moving; the dream she entered - the planet Valdis and her friends had entered - was probably generated by all their friends that were caught there, the scape changing owners as they moved through to make it harder to break into. The force she felt was the conscious mind in charge forcing her out in order to keep them dreaming. Why was anyone's guess - their energies weren't being stolen... but that was second to the problem at hand.

They had to wake them up.

To wake them up, they had to find the consciousness that was controlling the dreamscape and defeat it - or else, make it loosen its grip enough to pull everyone else out.

But breaking into those dreams with the defense in place would probably result in their just getting tossed out and having to start all over again.

... Unless they didn't try to break into an existing dream.

Somnus
"Once we're in I could try to find it's consciousness," Somnus stated, her voice quiet but tentatively assured, "If it's connecting multiple dreams together, there could be a web the information travels on centered on its host - if we followed it back into the host's consciousness we could destroy it there." Her deep purple eyes slid over to closed door, obviously implicating Sailor Aegle, who was still under watch in an office space in another part of the hotel; she blinked and returned her attention to the rest of the small group gathered. Potentially she could try this alone, but having more minds connected together could make it harder to be thrown out or overpowered - and with something that dangerous going around in there, she liked the idea of people watching her back. Still... she better liked just facing the problem head on.

Sailor Aegle had not been able to detransform and their usual methods of determining if someone were a senshi were muddled with there being so many in such close quarters - they couldn't for certain say she was what she said she was. Somnus had half a mind to Beam her and just jump in without permission and see for herself! ...but the other half cautioned that if it wasn't Sailor Aegle, jumping in there could mean getting trapped, just like everyone else, and then they may have no way of rescuing everybody else. She'd have to convince everyone to go there first with her for backup, and that... she'd just have to bring that up again. Regardless, she didn't like the idea of going under with Aegle's mind free, and she couldn't set a daydream and dreamwalk - she had tried, the daydream always fell apart.

"What do we want to do about Sailor Aegle?"

Senior Member Small Lady Emeritus

Sailor Roshar

Roshar, again, felt impatient as Somnus explained the plan that Shadow had suggested earlier. She leaned against the wall, feeling like a slight outsider to the group as she learned that several of them had actually been team mates on their first missions and conscripted no less. It wasn't a pleasant thought but war was war afterall.

Somunus's plan seemed like a good plan and honestly, the only plan that was plausible at this point. Somnus had a connection to that world, the one Koru had talked about. He had called in Shadesmar but Roshar believed that must be the name the Spren had given it. She had heard other people in her travels refer to it as the cognitive realm and now here, the dream world. Though, from what Somnus had described, it sounded more like a nightmare for those involved.

Hopefully the bond Roshar felt for Ninlil, despite its short time, would be strong enough. She may have just started to get to know the girl but storms she wasn't about to let her die either. Not by some cowardly Chaos force that refused to fight them face on. She ground her teeth thinking about it.

Unfortunately, Somnus's idea to put this Aegle paradox into a daydream to distract her hadn't worked and inevitably, the question came up with how to deal with her. There was an option no one had suggested yet.

"Has anyone considered just knocking her out?" she chimed in, attempting to keep a small smirk off her face, because for some reason in her mind, it was kind of hilarious that was possibly the only option they had.

Outer Senshi Admin Events & Storyline Admin

Hadley had been glad to hear that she might be able to join Somnus in this new plan. She'd do anything to help Ari and the others come back to the real world. Even if the tightness of anxiety clenched at her chest. This would be the first time she'd face an enemy without Ari at her side.

It would be strange to not have that familiar reassuring presence. Strange to not have someone beside her who was so finely tuned in to similar powers as herself. Strange to feel, in a way, alone.

But no, that wasn't fair. She had Hemera, Nyx and Alshain. And she had quite enjoyed what little time she'd spent with Somnus. And there was Crysdal too!

Well... sort of.

Hadley frowned as Somnus brought up the question of the potential doppelganger. A part of her wanted to pipe in that of course this was the real Crysdal. She had the same smile, and the same pretty eyes. Surely no imposter could replicate such personal details.

But there were others who were very convinced that this Crysdal was a fake. And if that were true, then it was a threat that couldn't be completely ignored, no matter how much her heart wanted to protest.

However, when a senshi with bright orange and yellows gave her own suggestion, a suggestion that consisted of knocking Crysdal out cold, Hadley couldn't stop herself from speaking up. "We can't do that!" The words came out a bit more alarmed than she would have wanted, but she still believed them to be true. Doppelganger or not, it didn't matter. "There's still a chance she could be the real Crysdal." And Hadley wasn't going to stand idly by while her friend was attacked. She glanced at the brightly colored senshi, uncertain what to make of a person who would attack without proof.

She went on in a calmer tone as she looked away, voice soft. "What if we brought her with us?" she asked, directing her question specifically to Somnus. "If she was there, would that help us to figure out which one is the fake somehow?"

Lotus Crystal

So this is what it feels like to be in your shoes..

Despite having wanted to distance himself from the memories of Sailor Enyalius, Shadow found himself contemplating how his present position paralleled that of the mighty warrior. Both were touched by Chaos at some point in their lives, both favored the use of swords, and each of them was particularly strong and robust. They also shared a tendency for finding themselves in some position of responsibility, spoken or otherwise, for other sailor guardians. Did she ever feel anything like his present anxiety when considering the lives of their associates?

Roshar's open question dragged Shadow's attention back to their current predicament. The young lady who was able to comfort Somnus in place of his own shortcomings immediately took exception to the comment. Now was the time to speak up before tempers flared and their common goal was threatened.

Shadow ran a hand through his hair, clearly displaying his opinion of their predicament with a plain frown. Perhaps he could help them channel their anger at the awful situation, instead of risking those emotions being levied at each other. "I have thought about it, and I don't like either result. Having Aegle as a loose end is dangerous, but Sailor Valdis is correct to say she might be genuine. What we've uncovered so far doesn't affirm her identity as a senshi or an impostor. I would expect a fraudster to retaliate if we put them to sleep, but if she's real.. then we're making Aegle a bed alongside the other victims."

He liked having a plan, a clear answer for how to proceed. This was not one of those times. Fumbling through his surface thoughts, Shadow searched the eyes of the gathered senshi for an answer to his next question.

"Do we know anyone who's close to Aegle that isn't trapped in the dream?"

Inner Senshi Admin Activities Director

When the group exited, the rust-skinned woman with the pale cloud of hair followed, gliding along behind them. They moved with purpose, and purpose was exactly what she sought. Xtal-Diamante caught the end of Somnus' statement and question, but she offered no reply. She didn't know that anything was going with Sailor Aegle, after all. It was slightly surprising to hear the stranger suggest "knocking out" their blonde teammate, often leader, but Sailor Valdis immediately spoke out against it. Now they spoke about "genuine" and "fake" in reference to the girl...

This was another one of those times when there would be a lot of talking, wasn't it?

Sailor Xtal-Diamante settled into a more comfortable standing position and waited for all of that to be over.

Outer Senshi Admin RP Graphics & Canon Admin

Hemera stood silently beside her sister, watching the group discuss a plan. Plans were not her strong suit, so she had opted to remain quiet, but it was obvious from her endless fidgeting that she was having trouble with keeping still and waiting until a decision was made. She itched with the desire to do something about this already. When a senshi she didn’t recognize suggested knocking out Aegle, she looked up worriedly, not liking the idea at all. Valdis spoke what she felt, but then again… there were two Aegles somehow. Hemera wanted desperately to believe the one they had was the right one, but what if they were wrong? They’d been duped by that “kindly old man” before and Valdis almost died because of his potions. She had learned the hard way that they couldn’t take people’s words at face value anymore.

The man she also didn’t recognize spoke next and asked if anyone knew someone close to Aegle. “Well, we’re all pretty close to her,” she pointed out, gesturing at Valdis and the others. “But I believe the one who knows her best is Sailor Alshain.”

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Sailor Roshar

Roshar blinked at the little red-head's response, The mischief from her slight smirk disappeared and she gave a half hearted chuckle.

"Relax, kid. It was just a suggestion," she replied, shrugging her shoulders as she listened to the rest of Valdis's suggestion. She had forgotten that some of these girls were close to Aegle. They had just the right just as anyone to be worried about their friend.

Shadow posed an interesting question which in turn made her curious about another thing. If this girl was fake, where was the real one's body? Maybe the double Somnus saw was the chaos entity manifesting as a familiar figure to a handful of the comatose Senshi, since apparently several of them were all very familiar with each other. Another senshi, her fuku similar in colors to Roshar, looked just as impatient and Roshar currently felt. Her suggestion answered Shadow's question so time to bring up another.

"Look, I don't know much about you girls and your bonds and all that but something's been bothering me, if that Aegle chick was a fake, where is the real one's body? Someone would have found it by now right?"

Roshar knew that probably wasn't a question the others wanted to hear but it is what it is after all. She was itching to just jump in the dream world, see what it was like but the idea of falling into a coma like the ones out in the temporary infirmary didn't seem like a good outcome either.

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Somnus
Roshar caught her attention immediately - the 'knocking Aegle out cold' option was one she'd been turning around since she offered to put her to sleep, but Venus's refusal continued to stand - not for the morals of it, but for the risk. She'd be all for it if there was a guarantee it would be done right and put her consciousness right out, but if it just sent her to deep sleep it could end up making things worse if Aegle was the culprit. If she were this powerful while awake, while splitting mental resources... She frowned, considering how to bring that up when Valdis replied and saved her the trouble - for now, anyway. The conviction of the redhead's compassion would probably stave off a direct attack on Aegle's body anytime soon.

Her question caught Somnus, making her consider an idea she had been hesitant to think about: taking that consciousness with them. On the one hand, it'd be convenient to know exactly what that consciousness was doing at all times. Who knew - maybe once she pulled them along they'd revert to their true form? But getting all of that settle would mean that if that did happen, whatever it was would be ready for them -- Shadow spoke, adding his own take, and she listened for any new information, but dismissed most of it as things she already knew, except for the last part, which revealed to her that he wasn't the type to sacrifice one to potentially save many others. As he asked for information about people close to Aegle, Somnus's eyes immediately flicked to Nyx and Hemera, who had come to her defense after the revelation that she was in the dream, and Valdis, who had just ardently defended her, and then to Alshain, who was dressed in a nearly identical fashion, and went back to considering Valdis's notion of bringing her with them as Hemera answered his question.

She had thought down the same path twice, unable to concentrate as Roshar asked her question - she answered quickly and factually - that part, at least, she had thought about already. "It's kind of like body-borrowing," she stated simply. "If it can link consciousnesses together, it could potentially push her consciousness aside and take control of her body while the real Aegle is caught up in the dream." It was something... she had been wanting to try. Not on the good guys, of course. Just the bad guys. She just didn't know how long she'd be able to manage something like that, or if she even could, but if she could think it up and this thing had done more than she thought possible, there was no telling --

But she had to get back on track and concentrate, and no matter where the conversation went, she figured she'd be distracted by voices, so she started talking. Thinking out loud should help. "If we took "Aegle"'s consciousness with us," she mused, not loud enough to override the conversation but loud enough to be heard if people were listening - and included quotation mark hand gestures around the threat's name. She cocked her head, interrupting her original sentence to get the obvious out there, " - if she's innocent it wouldn't really matter either way, she'd just be able to help us as a teammate and if we ran into the Chaos entity she could help fight it; the problem is if she's not innocent - if she is that thing, there's a chance that when I pull her with us she could keep the Aegle shape and continue to act innocent until she sees fit to attack us. And if it can't keep the Aegle shape up, it'd know exactly when we were coming for it and just attack us the moment I attempt to pull her along." She paused, obviously worried, but kept talking, "If we were well prepared though... if we took her in last and were ready to blast her, it could be over in moments and everyone could be saved without having to go so far into the dreamscape. And if she continues to look like their friend and act like their friend, we can still keep an eye on her and blast her the moment she messes up - get her before she gets us. ..." she paused again, brows furrowing, "We'd know where she was and what she was doing and wouldn't have to watch our backs in case she gets wind of what we're doing and goes in after us... but she could just as easily take this as a victory stroke. ... It's a big risk..." and she didn't know yet whether she thought it was worth it.

Roleplaying Moderator

Nyx glanced at her sister - she could imagine exactly how much she must be enjoying the whole discussing things over and over again and getting nowhere as usual. Well, even she, she had to admit, was getting impatient. This was what they always did, and it never felt like it was particularly useful to the final outcome. They should learn to think and act faster - and smarter. Easier said than done, of course, but...

Even though she did not feel good about Hemera tagging along in this, when whatever took hold of their friends was strong enough to overpower them all at once... She did not bother to raise any objections to it. She knew it would be a useless effort. She'd just have to go in with her and do their best. They were stronger together, she had to remind herself, but after those circumstances...

But what if she couldn't get in? Somnus had said that they needed a close bond with someone in the dream. A close friend or a lover... Sure, they had gotten friendly over the time, but it's not as if they were besties or anything... Valdis would make it in no doubt, be it for being the former or the latter - she still wasn't sure and supposed it wasn't important either - and her sister... She was always able to connect with others better than her. What if she got in while Nyx stayed out?

She closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh and attempted to return her thoughts to the issue at hand. "We should take her with us." She felt a bit self-conscious all of a sudden, speaking out somewhat suddenly, but continued. "It's risky, but I don't see another way. What if we find the impostor in there? Could we really attack, when there would still be the possibility that she was the real one? Or if the one out here is the fake one, are we that confident that they will be confined in a room that easily, given what they have managed so far?"

"Our best bet is to bring the two of them together... If we ever manage to figure out who is the real one, that might be our chance."

Lotus Crystal

Alshain had already gone up to see Chaldys about the shield orb when things had gone, well south. Again. She helped the others find and locate the bodies, had taken quick note of Aegle's apparent awakeness (now being called into question) and gone about doing what needed to be done. Now things weren't so easy, because the universe hated them (even if she had been brought back it still felt as if it was only to torture her more).

"Two options, either that is Aegle in the other room or she is in the dream and there's someone possibly in her body. It's no surprise that she couldn't show her sailor crystal or detransform, we'd only been senshi for a short time before this whole war pulled us into it and we've been transformed the entire time" She looked to Somnus who seemed to be the only one who knew anything about the situation's rules. "I could question her and see if it's her consciousness, unless the entity has the ability to access her memories, do you think they would?" Even as she asked the question she moved towards the door, intending to begin anyways. If this Aegle couldn't answer her questions then it was mute point.

Outer Senshi Admin Roleplay Director

Somnus
Nyx, then, was for it, offering the flip side she hadn't thought through to see; if they were hesitant about attacking physical Aegle, they'd be just as hesitant to attack dreamscape Aegle if or when they came across her, especially considering what could happen if it were actually her that they attacked. Somnus's head twitched forward in a nod, her thumb and forefinger perched on her lips as she thought and listened to the rest of the group. Alshain's summary and subsequent question gave her a little pause. "It's possible?" she replied, shrugging her shoulders minutely, "When I'm in someone's dream I don't have access to all that, but if it's in her head there's no telling what it does and doesn't know or what it does or doesn't have access to. Earlier they - " she indicated Nyx and Hemera "said that she knew things only the real Aegle would know, but," she shrugged again, "it could've been picking up on social cues or something."

Lotus Crystal

According to Sailor Alshain, she and Aegle had been recently conscripted into the Sailor War and were consistently employed against the recent swell of Chaos incursions. Just how much stress did these two have to endure together in such a short span of time?

The skeptic's eyes darted towards the door, then to Alshain with a slow nod of the head. Whether or not her proposed inquiry would prove fruitful, the dutiful senshi's suggestion had nonetheless made a good impression. "If I was to go in there.." He briefly raised his hands, bringing them together so that the palms faced inward and were roughly parallel to one another. The next motion from the man was a brief gesticulation, a drop of the hands to visually indicate emphasis as he finished his sentence. "I'd consider how she answers your questions, as well as the answers themselves."

Despite his words, Shadow had no actual intention to go and observe Aegle during the inquiry. Whether or not Valdis and the colorful duo whose names he'd yet to learn would accompany Alshain, that was likely to be a deeply personal talk. He was a stranger, a foreign presence that would tarnish the end result of their questioning.

Lotus Crystal

Great so then they weren't entirely sure what the impostrr could or could not know. Wait... actual information would be easier for the impostor to find if they knew they needed to look for it and actually had access to that information. However, if they didn't know they needed to be looking for certain information, then maybe....

"I have an idea, but I need to be the one to do it, I'm going to need some trust on this." She didn't want to explain her plan out loud, never knew who was listening or if there were others working with their current inconvenience dream take over. Alshain moved to enter the room where Aegle was currently being held.

OOC:

Outer Senshi Admin Roleplay Director

DM wrote:: Alshain has left the room.

Roleplaying Moderator

Could it be that easy? It was never that easy. She was not quite positive that Alshain's plan, whatever it was, would provide any sort of conclusive evidence about Aegle's true identity. And if they're not entirely sure, they couldn't neither attack nor trust her.

But it was worth a shot, if anything. The girl was closest to Aegle, so if she thought she might be able to figure something out...

She just hoped they wouldn't take much longer before getting into action. Sure, it's not like she was looking forward to entering that nightmare or whatever it was, but it's not like they had unlimited time... Things could take a turn for the worse at any moment.

Senior Member Small Lady Emeritus

Sailor Roshar

Eyebrows cocked in curiosity, Roshar watched as Alshain, whom she was starting to remember from one of the panels (that she may or may not have taken a nap in), left the room to carry out her plan. Well, at least she was a senshi of action! Better than this lot, sitting here planning and plotting. What good it did when in battle you needed to be quick and on your feet. What good is planning when you were about to head into the unknown?

"I hope her plan works because we need to stop chattering here like a gaggle of light-eyes and get moving before it's too storming late to save these girls and they are cursed to damnation," Roshar grumbled after the door shut behind Alshain. She made sure the tone of her voice reflected the annoyance she felt at their delay in taking action. She knew she had to learn to work on a team better, but it was so hard when all the team did was talk about what to do rather than just doing it. If they were scared they needed to man up, wait no, Senshi up and get their warrior butts in there to get the job done.

She made her way to sit on an unoccupied chair. Her posture wasn't ladylike in the least, legs slightly spread and leaning back, slouching into the chair and soon Roshar found herself trying to bite her thumbnail through her glove as her mind began to wonder. She observed her now saliva dampened cloth and frowned, recalling memories of Mren trying to teach her patience and the art of the deal. The merchant had tried to show how to debate artfully with their buyer in order to get the best profit and satisfied customer. Though storming good it did with how some of the light-eyes treated them regardless. Somehow Mren managed to have a loyal followiing, even among a few of the high princes in the war camps. Looking wistfully at the ceiling, she wished she had listened better to the man. His lessons finally looked like they had a place in her life and she had ignorantly pushed them aside.

Normally Roshar wouldn't be thinking about home. However, with the situation growing more dire by the second and all this excessive waiting, she was getting grumpy and restless. When that happened, she turned to thoughts of home and her old life. Was Roshar safe? Had the knights been able to hold back Chaos while she travelled? Queen Tiamat had promised she would do her best to protect Roshar but the poor woman already had thousands of other worlds to keep the same promise as well. She could only have faith in the knights Koru had promised would protect the world in her absence.

Lotus Crystal

Interrogation Between Aegle and Alshain:

Anait Zelleire-Today at 2:57 PM

Code:: Rainbow Crystal RTRP Storyline Insert: HC Event: Nightmare

Anait Zelleire-Today at 3:01 PM

Alshain looked to the guards for confirmation before moving to the door, pausing she took a deep breath. This is going to be... awkward . Opening the door revealed Aegle, sitting on the table, back straight, legs daintily crossed, prim and proper as always. Alshain pushed a wide grin on her face, this feels so unnatural, and rushed forward to clasp the other senshi in a desperate hug.

[Uranus]-Today at 3:15 PM

Crysdal looked up as the door opened, expecting to see one of the Silver Crystal senshi again and ready to face whatever else they had. It hadn't been so bad, just... being looked at like a potential threat wasn't exaclty comforting, no matter how cordial they were. Instead, Elysande entered, grinned, and rushed over to embrace her. Confused, Crysdal nevertheless returned the hug - hugs were always appreciated - and, barely daring to hope it, asked, "Did they figure out what's going on?"

Anait Zelleire-Today at 3:21 PM

Alshain pulled back, turning her grin into a sweetly concerned look as she delivered the news, "Not yet, that's actually what I'm here for." Her grin returned though as she bounced around the table to sit in the chair, push it back on it's legs and put her feet up on the higher surface. "I ask a few questions, you answer them correctly and BOOM," she snapped her fingers, "we can move on with saving the others!" Alshain listened to herself sound so sickly optimistic. It wasn't like her, she liked to sit and think, and usually ended up doubting everything anyways.

"Soooooo, first question! What's my non senshi name?" She pulled at the end of her hair and began twisting the end between her fingers while glanced around the room, appearing to be studying their surroundings.

[Uranus]-Today at 3:37 PM

A feeling of mild alarm started squirming its way through Crysdal's spine, the phrase 'Who are you and what have you done with my friend?' suddenly much less playful under current circumstances. Elysande wasn't acting like herself - it was like she was trying to be... Well, she was acting like the sarcastic version of herself, Crysdal that Elysande brought out to make fun of her for being too overenthusiastic and "girly." But then there was the over-the-top enthusiasm and macho feet-on-table move and...

Crysdal stood, turning to look at her face-on, and tried to act casual - like Elysande wasn't weirding her out or slightly frightening her, giving her the idea that maybe... this wasn't Elysande... Her loud BOOM! made her flinch, but she smiled to cover it up, breathing out a laugh, playing it off as being tense from being cooped up and under suspicion. The way she drew out "So" was so entirely... the pitch, the tone - it was like someone acting like they were a girl.

Tense and on high alert, she tucked her hair behind her ear to buy a second to consider answering the question. Was she.. being pressed for information so this... if this wasn't Elysande... She was actually twisting her hair.

Who was this? .. her name wasn't a high priority secret or anything, was it? "Elysande..." she replied, nonchalantly taking a step backward. There were people outside the door - she didn't have any physical attacks, she couldn't really defend herself, but she could get their attention...(edited)

Anait Zelleire-Today at 3:45 PM

Alshain giggled, "Silly, you don't have to be so formal! You know I have everyone call me Elys," she paused all of body movements to slide her eyes back onto the now visibly tense Aegle, for just a moment she was sharp again as she delivered the next line, "or maybe you don't." She slipped back into the easy going body movements that she almost struggled with. As if the last 10 seconds hadn't happened...

"Okay next question, what are the names of the 2 senshi who helped us defend our planet the first time from chaos?" She dropped her feet back onto the floor though she still sat with her chair propped up on only 2 legs. Her mind was racing again as she considered the options, one-this person answers wrong, easy; two-they answer right, it's possible that they have access to her memories or this is Aegle. If it was Aegle, she needed her to catch on, but if it wasn't her, then she needed to be sure.(edited)

[Uranus]-Today at 4:03 PM

Her skin crawled. Silly?

Elys? She'd been trying to call her that for ages now, but she had never... but who else would know that? As Elysande's eyes glared cruelly on her, her eyes narrowed calculatingly right back, even as the darker tones emerged. What was her game? If she knew enough to know that failed nickname, but didn't have any clue about her normal behavior... Crysdal crossed her arms defensively as the carefree voice returned.

It was a good question to verify her identity... but they had told others about their "origin story", as it were, when swapping tales during down time on a handful of planets now. Were they just trying to get facts stra---

Forget this!

Exhaling loudly, she stepped forward to the desk, her arms still tight across her chest, and pinning her with a look, exasperatedly asked, "Elysande is that you?"(edited)

Anait Zelleire-Today at 4:12 PM

Alshain gasped, well it wasn't supposed to be part of her behavior, it was in response to Aegle's sudden questioning. She had expected to get through a few more questions, though she also had been laying it on pretty thickly. She quickly followed the lapse by taking on an offended tone and jumping up from her chair. "Of course it's me, why would you think it wouldn't be?" Her eyes took on their sharpness again though Alshain tried her best not to let them. This was why everyone thought she was angry all the time...

[Uranus]-Today at 4:16 PM

Crysdal frowned, eyeing her less suspicoiusly after the outburst - she more comfortable seeing her hop out of things defensively than that sweet high pitched talk from earlier. She was acting more like herself. "You were being all weird, which you should know," she pinned her with a look that read

I'm onto you.

all over it.

Anait Zelleire-Today at 4:25 PM

That look, that was Crysdal. Alshain breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back into her natural body language. "Goodness that was difficult, I don't know how you act like that all the time." A smirk quickly graced her face before she straightened up both her back and her mouth.

"Just one more question, since you did only answer one, my previous incarnation, what was her name, the one they called her by?"

[Uranus]-Today at 4:54 PM

As Elysande relaxed, Crysdal started to. She saucily stuck out her tongue in response to the smirk and the barb. The question caught her off guard; she had to think back to the stories Elysande had told her about her country and its past, her eyes shutting tight in concentration, and eventually she tried a name. One eye peeked open, the rest of her face scrunched up in embarassment, she tried, "Yusas? Usas? Usos?"

Anait Zelleire-Today at 4:58 PM

Alshain waited, still slightly tense, always second guessing herself. She may have huffed slightly at the botched pronunciation, but on the inside she ran through the scenarios presented to them. This time she moved towards Aegle slowly before reaching for a real hug this time, the girl had earned it. Her heart thudded as she imagined the consequences of a mistake here. "Great, now we just need to convince everyone else," her tone was exasperated.

[Uranus]-Today at 5:14 PM

The huff worried her, but it was more a huff of indignation at her pronunciation than indication that she had gotten it wrong. She hoped. Also halfway hoped she hadn't just given something some information it needed for a diabolical plan or somesuch. Elysande approached her slowly and Crysdal braced herself, halfway preparing to scream, despite knowing that Elysande was perfectly capable of taking her out without giving her a chance to make a noise if she had a mind to - but instead of an attack, she got a hug. A real hug, not that weird tense thing from a few minutes ago. Immediately she melted into it and hugged her friend tightly back, the shaved side of her head tucking lightly beside Elysande's, her blonde hair hanging down to cover the other side of her face.

"There's something in their dreams that looks like me," Crysdal replied. "They wanted me to detransform to prove I was really me but I don't know how - they said it was like letting go? But I can't do it," she shook her head, keeping close so she wouldn't have to look her friend in the eye as she admitted what was apparently a condemning flaw, "I don't know how else to say it's me."

Anait Zelleire-Today at 5:19 PM

The dark haired teen pulled back but stayed near this time. "That is a problem but it's also understandable, I told them we weren't exactly experienced in that area and we haven't exactly had time to practice either." She had asked them to trust her, the only question was would they?

"My plan wasn't to ask questions exactly, I mean if you had been wrong then we would have known, but it was more about testing knowledge that an impostor wouldn't have even if they knew everything you knew."

"Anyways I can explain to both you and them, then we can get down to getting the others to safety."

[Uranus]-Today at 5:21 PM

Crysdal's brow furrowed - testing what she knew, beyond what someone would know if they knew everything she knew? She didn't exactly follow, but she trusted Elysande and nodded. "Okay."

Anait Zelleire-Today at 5:23 PM

Alshain took a breath, reached for Crysdal's hand, and moved to open the door.

Scene End

Outer Senshi Admin Events & Storyline Admin

Hadley felt her hope grow in strength at the idea of Alshain's words. If anyone was able to know if Crysdal was actually Crysdal, it would be her.

She still felt convinced that this had to be the real Crysdal, but having Alshain's confirmation would go a long way in solidifying that conviction into plain fact.

She just hoped the others would see it that way. She wanted Crysdal to undergo such suspicion for as little as possible. It wasn't fair, especially if she was the true one. And, the less time they spent wondering about Crysdal - who definitely had to be the real one, of course - the more time they could spend getting to the root of the problem.

Which meant they'd get to save everyone faster.

Hadley watched in silence as Alshain left the room, waiting for her to come back with her verdict.

Outer Senshi Admin RP Graphics & Canon Admin

At some point, she had tuned out the talk, especially when it grew complicated with consciousness and going in and hypotheticals about the impostor. Basically, everything Somnus said. Her sister seemed to think bringing the two Aegles together was a good idea, and then Alshain offered to check the one they had. After she left, one of the senshi she didn't recognize yelled something about endlessly waiting around and Hemera sympathized with her. She seemed agitated even as she sat down, fidgeting in a way that was all too familiar to Hemera.

Hemera decided to walk toward her. They seemed to be on the same boat, and if they both talked to each other they could both have something to occupy their time other than waiting.

“Hi,” she said brightly to the similarly colored senshi, managing a small smile despite her worries and anxiety. “I'm Sailor Hemera. I don't think we've been introduced. You have a friend who's sleeping as well?” she asked curiously. “I can't wait to do something either, but my sister always says rushing in without a plan is just as bad. I do hope they figure out something soon, though.”

Inner Senshi Admin Activities Director

She had no objections to any of the suggestions, nor did any additional input rise to her mind. This was far beyond the stony woman's wheelhouse. Sailor Xtal-Diamante tuned herself to these vibrations off and on, but it did little for her. The passion from Sailor Roshar manifested as somewhat harsher waves that jangled about in Xtal-Diamante's crystal core, reflecting the disquiet from the woman. Although the velveteen-clad teenager opted for a path more passive, she felt a similar restlessness. Sailor Alshain's departure would hopefully bring them closer to whatever would be attempted with Sailor Somnus. For now, she waited for her assignment.

Lotus Crystal

Alshain opened the door and entered back into the room with the others, Aegle by her side. She cautiously looked to the guards before making her announcement, ready to physically intervene if necessary.

"After questioning and behavior testing, I believe this is the original Aegle." She paused for a moment, before continuing on that sharp tone she tended to have when raising her voice for others to hear. "Not only did I test the knowledge that only Aegle and I would have, I also tested knowledge an impostor wouldn't know to look for at the same time. By changing my behavior and personality while questioning her at the same time, even if they were able to access her knowledge, they wouldn't know that I was acting out of character without knowing to look for that information. " So she passed...

Turning to Somnus, Alshain indicated her readiness to move on, a head nod and a hand held out before returning to her side. They needed to get a move on to save the others.

Senior Member Small Lady Emeritus

Sailor Roshar

Hemera's words helped ease her agitation a little. At least she wasn't alone with these impatient feelings. Roshar cracked a small smile at the girl as she replied, "I'm that obvious, huh?"

She adjusted her position in the chair, stretching her arms before relaxing them behind her, using them as a head rest.

"Well, it's not like I was trying to be subtle either," she chuckled a bit before reaching a hand out towards Hemera, "Roshar. Plans are great and all but how does one plan for a world they've never been in? It's not even the physical world. Koru once mentioned the cognitive realm. Apparently that's where he's from but the useless spren can't even tell me anything about it."

She huffed. Koru was her closest friend, but sometimes the little guy was cryptic and withheld information; sometimes he just didn't remember. She still hadn't gotten a clear answer when he told her she would kill him one day.

Her inner thoughts almost brought another scowl to her face but thankfully Alshain walked in and announced Aegle as good. She had no real reason to trust her words other than she was a Sailor Senshi and that was good enough for her. As long as they got moving. Roshar stood eagerly.

"Let's get to it then!"

Outer Senshi Admin Events & Storyline Admin

Hadley tensed in anticipation as Alshain opened the door. Hadley's eyes flickered to Crysdal - bright and warm Crysdal - but she couldn't bare to look too closely. What if it turned out that this truly was an imposter?

Impossible, her heart cried, and when Alshain gave her verdict on the matter, Hadley felt the first full smile pull at her lips in a long time.

She hadn't lost another friend after all.

Hadley took a few steps closer to Crysdal and reached out for the other girl's hands. "I knew it," she said, smile still present. In a quieter tone, she asked, "Are you okay?"

She heard the girl with the bright orange and yellow colors speak up, urging for action, but Hadley paid no attention to that. If it had been up to that senshi, Crysdal would be unconscious and people would still be doubting her.

Instead, Hadley focused solely on Crysdal's return and the sweet relief that her small group of friends, for now at least, remained unchanged.

Roleplaying Moderator

After a short while, Alshain returned, together with Aegle. So she believed that she was the real deal.

"Believe..." She said mostly to herself, but loud enough for anyone paying attention to hear, before proceeding to speak up. "Sounds like a good plan, but... Exactly how certain are you? If we go in, chances are we'll encounter the other Aegle. She will try to deceive us for sure. And if she has fooled those she was with, she must play her role quite well..."

"How confident are you that the one inside is the fake one? Are you prepared to attack and defeat that one, when it comes to that?"

"...Just don't let your guard down, everyone." She hesitantly looked towards Aegle. Nyx still did believe it was more likely for this one to be the real one. After all, possessing someone and accessing all conscious and subconscious memories sounded less probable than simply taking the form of a trusted person in the nightmare they control. But they can't afford a mistake.

Aegle Eye Contact:

Lotus Crystal

When Alshain returned, Shadow held his silence; it was best for him to keep some amount of emotional detachment. He wasn't familiar with Aegle beyond their initial introductions in the conference, but Alshain was vetting her identity.

All I can do is watch and wait.

Where would the basis of real knowledge start in this situation? Since he had no prior experience with the kind of dream attack being levied against the senshi, Shadow had to begin with the assumption that he knew nothing and needed to remain vigilant. Just like the case with Sagittarius Zero Star, missing any detail could prove to be a deadly mistake.

"You're right," Shadow agreed with Nyx's declaration. He had yet to learn the name of the girl with dark blue hair, but she seemed to spend no less time thinking over the nuances of their problem. Meanwhile, her companion with the bright disposition had decided to visit Roshar, making introductions and finding solidarity or something to that extent. Given that it was kind of rude to eavesdrop into her chat with Roshar, Shadow had not listened too closely to their friendly banter.

The dark knight turned to face Somnus, thinking back to how Sailor Valdis had comforted her with a softer tone. Indeed, it was the dream senshi's own courage that would make this plan possible. "Somnus.. is there anything we've learned that can be used to prepare ourselves? When you first attempted to pry into the dream, you mentioned a burning city with brown sand and piles of bodies." He raised a hand to his chest, briefly shaking his head. "It's not like anything I have seen.."

Shadow trailed off, glancing towards the gathering of senshi. If they had close bonds with the comatose guardians, would any of them recognize that place?

Lotus Crystal

Alshain wasn't offended or even upset by what Nyx was suggesting. She herself doubted her own abilities in this situation. However doubt would only cause more problems, so she would need to move forward.

"I am prepared to do that yes, the others were suddenly thrown into a land that's different from this place and are unaware of a duplicate, I'd bet they're much more focused on their environment than on each other."

Sharp eyes glanced to the overly pink body next to hers as thoughts of failure rang through her mind. "There's really only one way to know for sure and it won't be until this is all over."

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Crysdal took Hadley's hands and held them loosely, nodding once to her question, her mouth a line that looked like it might have been attempting a smile for her friend but never quite managed to get there, Nyx's words ominous but completely understandable given the circumstances. She looked down at their joined hands as Amaya spoke, knowing she just needed to stay calm and keep her head down - give them no reason to doubt her identity. ... Not that that was stressful or anything. Act normal - but not flat normal - you normal - or else chance throwing them off of the real culprit besides whatever they did to her. She didn't want to be hurt. She didn't want them to live with knowing they had made that mistake, either. It wasn't a good feeling, and she probably wouldn't have even thought of it if she hadn't been so recently reminded of it by Inara. And Elysande. ... What would she do if they tried, though? Just... take it? Or fight back and look more suspicious? Either way if someone else was out there looking like her, doing something to make them think she was whatever it was wouldn't end well.

She looked at Amaya, catching her eyes, "hearing" her apology in her head. She nodded slightly.

Aegle Eye Contact wrote:: I understand. But I'm a little scared. Please don't hold it against me.

She admitted it only because she was afraid that the stress might show and someone could pick up on it. Faking it was second nature, but something like this... she swallowed, breaking eye contact with Amaya. Something like this had more than just her pride at stake. More than just the mental wellbeing of the group.

There's really only one way to know for sure and it won't be until this is all over.

She squeezed Hadley's hands. Elysande had filled her in on what they were attempting to do; she was ready, but she'd feel a lot better about things if whatever it was in there was pretending to be someone else.

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Somnus
Alshain returned, vouched for this Aegle being the real Aegle - not that that made much of a difference to her, she'd be watching her like a hawk the entire time anyway - and they were on her about getting started already. She guessed that only Nyx's opinion about taking her mattered, then. That or she had said what everyone else was thinking and they turned their attention to Alshain's interrogation and took it as a given that she would be coming regardless of the results. Either way.

Shadow called her attention and she stared at him as he spoke, blinking only when he finished talking. She shook her head. "That dream is over," she said simply, "Most of the inhabitants fell out of it - unless whatever it was wanted to put the remaining two into a nightmare it would've changed the dream already. The scene was creepy, but not nightmarish, so I don't think it'd go that way. If we're ready," she said, looking at the gathered group and projecting her voice to be heard, "then get comfortable. When you see me in your dreams, don't question it, just come with me. To make it easier to find and connect all of us, repeat this phrase to yourself, over and over, and imagine it as a scene. Try to think about nothing else. Clouds. Waterfall. Rainbow. Got it?"

She wished she still had the ability to project her own daydreams; it would make this process a lot simpler.

"Clouds, waterfall, rainbow."

She was glad they had moved to a smaller room; they were less likely to be disturbed. There weren't any cots, but the moment they lowered themselves or looked comfortable enough against a wall or something, she'd put them to sleep, sure that the stress or excitement would make it near impossible for them to sleep otherwise.

DM wrote:: Get comfy and stick with the prompt! Once every character gets into place, I'll have Somnus put them all to sleep and go in after them.

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She offered a smile to the girl, who introduced herself as Sailor Roshar. The girl's last sentence, however, was completely lost on her because she had no idea who this 'Koru' was, and what was a 'spren' anyway?

However, before she could ask, their attention was drawn to the returning Alshain.

When she announced that she had cleared Aegle as the real one, Hemera felt relieved. It didn't even cross her mind that Alshain could be wrong; those two were best friends, so they must know each other well enough. If anyone were to impersonate Nyx, she liked to think she would know too.

Nyx still seemed uncertain about this plan, and Hemera didn't like the idea of facing both Aegles and having to decide which was the real one either. Could she attack one of them if it came down to it? The person wearing her friend's face?

She didn't like to think about it and decided she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. She glanced at Aegle and offered a smile, though all she really wanted was to go and hug her. Still, maybe now wasn't the best time.

Somnus was directing them all to enter the dream. Hemera sat on the ground, trying to relax despite the anxiety. Somnus' key words echoed in her mind as she closed her eyes. Clouds. She thought about fluffy white clouds in the blue sky. Waterfall. One of Dies Nox's beautiful waterfalls right by the palace. Rainbow. The colors that appeared among the water when the light hit them a certain way.

She combined all of them into one image and immersed herself in it, trying to forget where she actually was and everything going on with the sleeping senshi. It occurred to her then that she might not wake up from this dream either, but she had to try. For their friends.

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Nyx's words echoed through her, even as Hadley continued to look at Crysdal. Was she prepared to attack someone who looked like her friend?

Could she defeat a creature wearing a friend's face?

She didn't know.

There would always be that fear: What if they were attacking the real Crysdal? What if they were wrong?

But no, Alshain was certain, and that made Hadley feel certain as well. This Crysdal, the one whose hands gently squeezed her own, this was the real Crysdal. Warm and gentle Crysdal. Surely there would be something to tell the difference between the two, especially if both were side-by-side. Something small, something that the imposter couldn't possibly ever replicate.

Hadley latched on to that thought like a life-line.

Somnus brought Hadley back to the present when she instructed everyone to think of a list of words to help with the process of getting them to the dreamworld. Right. It was time.

Hadley gave another small squeeze to Crysdal's hands before moving to sit on the ground. She found a wall to lean up against, trying to take a little room as possible.

Sitting there, she tried to clear all her thoughts except for the prompt she'd been given. Clouds, waterfall, rainbow. Clouds, waterfall, rainbow. She thought of a small hidden alcove on Valdis, and of the times she went there. A secret and secure place all to herself.

Maybe Ari would like to see it. Once this was all over. Once she was safe.

No. She couldn't think of that right now. Hadley forced herself to concentrate and relax, evening out her breathing. Clouds, waterfall, rainbow.

She went back to that secret place on Valdis within her mind. She thought of the wispy clouds that were created by the waterfall crashing down, and the way rainbows arced through the mist like magic. Over and over she thought of this specific set of images, hoping that she wouldn't mess up.

Ari and the others were depending on her to do this right.

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