OOC:

Sirenia was truly torn. She wanted to help her sisters, but she also felt a strong loyalty to the queen. She listened silently while everyone else voiced their opinions. She sat on one of the tables, swinging her leg a bit. She sensed tension and worry in several of her sisters. At a lull in the conversation the youngest finally voiced her opinion.

"I want to help, but I just don't feel that the queen would double cross us after going through all this trouble. Maybe there are reasons we aren't privy to? But, I want to know the truth. I don't like...what we did. And I don't want to sit around while every one endangers themselves either."

She hesitated, thinking about every one else's plans and where she might best fit in. "I'll play lookout for you Emelia, if you want."

Floria felt torn, she was glad that her sisters didn't blindly trust this person who had saved them yes, but she wasn't one of them.  However she also didn't want them to be in danger, she didn't want them to be harmed anymore than they already had.  At least they were pairing up, there's safety in numbers, half of them had already paired up and had destinations in mind.  Movement in her peripheral caught Floria's attention and it was then that she noticed Delia's nervous demeanor.  She rested her hand on the girl's shoulders, "Some people need to go around and act as distractions, be seen doing nothing suspicious, want to come with me?"  If they were questioned about anything Floria could keep her nerves, maybe she could help Delia as well.  Besides she didn't want her little sister to be afraid, not when she was alive and well to protect her.

OOC:

Delia smiled gratefully at Floria, affirming with a small nod. Honestly, she was probably one of the least-qualified sisters to act "not suspicious"—she had always been a miserably terrible liar. They would probably have just a little bit more success with Floria's influence and guidance, at least. If her ability to cover up for Delia hadn't changed in the time the sisters had been separated, it would work out just fine in the end.

With the task of providing a distraction to keep others from noticing where the others of the twelve sisters might be, Delia wondered what Floria had in mind.

"So what should we do?" she asked, trying not to think about all of the really worrisome things that were absolutely happening and about to happen. "What's something that would keep a lot of palace staff occupied and focused on us?"

Perhaps what they really needed to do was cause a commotion. And really, with Delia involved, that wouldn't be anything unusual or unexpected.

She heard Iris’ message and nodded at her gratefully. It would help to have Iris by her side, not only as backup but also to relay messages to the others should she find something.

Reva, ever the bold one, decided to check the queen’s chambers, and Cassidy wasn’t surprised. At least she wasn’t going there alone.

She turned toward Emelia. “I think that’s a good idea. And, well… I don’t think she can talk to animals, though if she could, that still doesn’t mean they’ll tell her everything, so you could always try to win them to your side.”

Delia and Floria had decided to serve as distraction, which was great. Cassidy let them hammer out the details as she moved toward her own destination. It felt like time was ticking, and she wanted to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible.

Instructions wrote:

Feel free to move your characters to another part of the castle now, but please bold your location on top of your post for easy reference. If you want to try looking for something or doing something, state it in your post and, should your action result in finding something, I will announce it.

♑ Emelia Astera - Sailor Star Capricorn
Walking the Hallways

Emelia was grateful that Sirenia volunteered to look out for her. With that role taken care of, she could now focus at the task at hand. Everybody it seemed was already starting to split off and take care of their respective jobs, with Delia and Floria acting as distraction.

She only hoped it'd be enough to keep them from being discovered.


"Capricorn Star Power, Make Up!" she cried, not too loudly so the staff wouldn't come running, but nevertheless the transformation took place in a whirl of pebbles and dust. In a final flash, Sailor Star Capricorn stood, not wanting to strike a pose. The senshi turned towards Sirenia, and motioned her to follow.

There were a lot of walls in this castle, and Capricorn was not sure how long it would take to feel all of them for secret passageways or rooms. Or anything hidden in them, really. She ran her hands along one wall, concentrating intently as she walked along it, but so far her search yielded nothing. But who knew what she would find in the hundreds of other castle walls?

ooc:

Iris- Sailor Star Gemini


Iris followed her sister silently as they made their way down to the dungeons. Would they find what they were looking for? Did Cassidy already have an idea of what they should find? She had so many questions that she desperately wanted to ask her sister, but didn't dare in case they were overheard.

Sirenia - Sailor Pisces - Walking the Hallways

Sirenia nodded and followed suit, her mind occupied in the attempt to come up with excuses for why her sister was transformed just in case they were spotted in the hall before getting to a secluded spot. She had already come up with a few.

Sneaky wasn't exactly her strong suit, but she put a happy smile on her face as if nothing in the world was at all unusual. Nope, it was just the happy little sister trailing along frolicking, that's all.

Every time Emelia stopped, Sirenia's eyes went on high alert, peering in both directions as intently as she could while pretending to toy with her hair or her shoes. Her heart was skipping in her chest. Every time she heard a noise she stopped breathing. Yet so far so good.

She didn't speak, not only for fear of discovery but also for fear of distracting Capricorn's concentration. From time to time she caught her sister's eye with a questioning glance as if to say Did you find anything?

Celeste Nova Astera - Sailor Star Aquarius
Heading down Hallway from Kitchen/Dining Room to Library

Celeste hadn’t walked down the hallway very far after getting Iris’s telepathic message announcing the meeting when she was jolted out of her thoughts about Cassidy’s meeting by a familiar-sounding female voice behind her shouting joyfully “YES!”  Now Celeste wasn’t much of one to jump out of her skin or even flinch when she was startled - a rebel’s gotta keep her instinctive reactions generally under control, right? - but this time, hearing such a loud voice in an inside, fancy, virtually formal setting was such an extreme contrast to what she was expecting that Celeste couldn’t stop herself this time - she visibly flinched.

After a brief second to recover, Celeste turned toward the source of the loud voice that had startled her in such an extreme way and was surprised to see Eliane hurrying up to catch up to her.  Celeste smiled pleasantly at her elder sister for a second, then told her in a serious tone “Careful with how loud you go, Eliane - Just because you feel like a happy-go-lucky 3-year-old doesn’t mean you have to act like one.”


After that, Celeste turned to the main matter she wanted to discuss with her sisters by first looking around (to try to make sure there were no guards of Queen Stella nearby), then (as long as it looked & sounded safe) telling Eliane in a quieter-than-normal voice “Eliane, I’m curious how you’re feeling about our most recent mission.  See, I’m asking because I had a dream last night about it that has me re-thinking these favors we’re doing for Queen Stella.”

OOC :

Clue wrote:

As Sailor Star Capricorn runs her hands along walls, she senses one area that is blocked, almost like with magic. She can’t sense that part at all. The area is directly adjacent to the Queen’s private chambers.

Dungeons

Cassidy had never been here before, but after navigating her way further and further down through the castle—making some wrong turns in the process—she found stairs running into the darkness from the deserted back corridor of the palace. She followed them deeper into the ground, where light was scarce and all she could hear was drops of water echoing in the darkness.

Walking carefully, she waited until her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. When they did, she could see crisscrossing bars lining along the walls on both sides. They were definitely in the right place.

She peeked into each cell, but every single one appeared to be empty. The queen did not seem to be hiding anyone here. She was either as benevolent as she seemed to be… or she was not the type to bother taking any prisoners.

She was just about to give up when the last cell at the end also appeared empty, but when she turned around to go back, she heard the sound of something shifting ever so slightly from the cell on her right. She froze.

Peering into the darkness, she could not see anything. Finally, gathering her courage, she asked, “Is anyone in there?”

For a few seconds there was nothing. Then a shape began to move into the light… and Cassidy held her breath.

It was an old woman, so old she seemed as if she had been around for centuries. Her skin was all wrinkled, her disheveled hair all white, her eyes sunken. She seemed as if she was barely holding on to life, like someone who was too tired to keep going on.

“You…” she spoke, and her voice was so thin and hoarse Cassidy could barely hear it. “Oh… no…” Her eyes switched back and forth between Cassidy and Iris. “You’re here… is it too late…?”

“Too late?” Cassidy echoed, confused.

Did this woman know them?

♑ Emelia Astera - Sailor Star Capricorn
Walking the Hallways

By now, Sailor Star Capricorn had covered a lot of ground (well, walls technically), and so far she had found nothing. Occasionally she glanced back at Sirenia, who seemed awfully quiet. Though, Capricorn supposed it was for the best, as she did find herself concentrating more while it was quiet. Whenever she caught her younger sister's eye, she shook her head to affirm that she had not found anything yet.

However, as she was trailing around one wall, she stopped. Something wasn't right. Capricorn ran her hands over the wall, and to her great dismay, she couldn't sense anything. "I can't sense anything here," she whispered to Sirenia as her mind puzzled over why this was so. Her powers were working fine earlier. In fact, she moved a little back. Indeed, she could sense that part of the wall, but as she moved forward, all sensation stopped, as if something were blocking her.

Blocking. That had to be it.

"I think I might have found something," Capricorn said grimly. "Though I don't know what yet. I don't want to try to bust it open because a number of things could happen. It could be rigged with traps, or alarms, and even if it isn't then we'd still have to explain why there's a busted wall."

Walking down hallways away from Dungeons and Queen Stella's quarters

Delia tried not to think about her sisters and what they might be up to. Of course, that only seemed to put her imagination in overdrive. She was just too caught up in everything that was going on and all of the ways it could go so horribly wrong! Delia hoped that her sisters would be careful and keep themselves safe. They had finally been reunited after so long. The thought of losing them all again... that was truly a terrible thought.

What she (and Floria) needed was some way to attract the attention of the castle staff, preventing them from paying much attention to her sisters.

She twirled a strand of dusty mauve hair around one finger, pondering their next plan of action.

"Floria, I have an idea..."

Reva - Sailor Star Aries

With shining eyes Reva turned back to the door and began walking after waving at her sisters, secretly waiting for Antares’ following steps to sound.
“Well then, I guess we'll be going now,” it only came out of her mouth, cheeky and indifferent as always. “Later!”

And so, with a sharp bend to the left Reva disappeared from the picture and walked into the thick darkness of ignorance.

Running down the Hallway, heading to the Queen’s chamber

Her comparatively fascinated eyes wandered from the left to the right, up and down, every which way, steadily focusing on each and every angle to catch every little things of her noble furnishing.
Admittedly, her own room was as beautiful as the interior walls of a seriously ill intestine, however, she surely couldn't deny that the rest of the palace wasn't actually that bad. Pompous golden chandeliers, exquisite vases with the sweetest of rare flowers, large windows in Gothic Style - she surely wouldn't mind getting used to all that luxury.
After all, even the tiles had that soft shade of lavender, perfectly wiped, as if someone wanted to eat from it. Oh boy… all that luxury. How much did she wish to have all of that.

Yeah, it was only too bad that all of that belonged to a woman who didn't deserve it in the slightest and who just treated her guests like some menial mailmen.

“Say, Antares,” she then, however, suddenly raised her cheeky voice after a while of silence and sheer walking. “What do you actually think of that Queen?”
She smiled faintly and put her arms behind her head, the neck leant back and the girl slightly excited for the response.
“Killing Cresta was a little unnecessary, after all...He was just an ordinary old man.”

Entrance of the Queen’s chamber

Queen's Chambers: Sailor Star Scorpio- Antares


Antares sometimes couldn't understand how Reva stayed so upbeat, especially in a situation like this, but she followed her older sister anyway.

"I don't have an opinion on her as a person, but...I haven't trusted her since she found us. Not completely," she said, already turning grumpy from being reminded of their last deed. "I don't like taking orders either." If she was going to follow anyone at all, it'd be her sisters, and even then it depended on what they wanted to do.

"Let's just figure out what we can about her..." If they were lucky, things would start to make sense when they looked in the Queen's room.

Clue wrote:

The entrance to the queen's chambers is, of course, locked.

Dungeons

“Don’t trust her,” the old woman warned. “If it isn’t too late… don’t trust her.” The old woman’s tone sounded dire as she clung to the bars of her cell. “It’s all my fault… I shouldn’t have given your mother that prophecy in the first place…”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. She cursed me… I can’t tell anyone the truth now. But know that she is your blood, and she is one of you.”

Cassidy was really confused. The woman kept emphasizing her, but the only person she spoke of was their… mother? Their mother was dead. She was certain of it. Was this woman talking about Queen Stella?

“Who are you?” she pressed, desperate to find the truth.

“I’m just an oracle, a seer. I told your mother the prophecy to save her kingdom… but I doomed it to ruin instead.”

Sirenia turned to Capriconr, "Really?" She tapped the wall too, just to see how solid it felt to her fingers. "I knew you would find something!" Curiosity and excitement danced in her eyes as well as pride in her sister. "I don't think the queen would appreciate a busted wall very much. Should we tell the others? Or do you want to keep looking for other strange spots like this?"

OOC:

Antares frowned slightly when the Queen's door was revealed to be locked. They should have expected it to not be so easy, but how would they get inside now?

"Do you think we should break in, or try and find another entrance?" she asked Reva. Since this was her older sister's idea, she'd let her decide how to do this.

Iris- Sailor Star Gemini


Wait, this woman knew their mother? What prophecy was she talking about and what did she mean she was one of them? Did she mean the Queen?

Is she trying to tell us the Queen is related to us somehow? She sent to Cassidy, her mind whirling with all the new information. 

"If you can't tell us anything, can you tell us where we can find the truth?"

♑ Emelia Astera - Sailor Star Capricorn
In the Halls

"Yep," Sailor Star Capricorn replied, nodding in affirmation. "By what I don't know, but it is definitely suspicious." Although she didn't show it, she felt extremely flattered by what Sirenia said. Being the third youngest, it wasn't often that Capricorn felt like a dependable big sister. Well, dependable? Yes. Big sister? No. She could only imagine what it must be like to be one of the eldest sisters, like Reva or Floria, to have others depending on them all the time. It probably felt nice, but a big responsibility.

Capricorn pushed these thoughts from her head as she returned to the task at hand. Both of Sirenia's options seemed like the wise thing to do, yet with only two of them, it wouldn't be possible to do both since Capricorn would still need a lookout. She puzzled over this, trying to figure out the best solution. If they waited and looked for more clues, they could be caught. If they went and told right away, they could be missing something huge.

"We'll keep looking for another ten minutes," she finally decided. "If we find nothing in that amount of time, then we'll just tell the others about this one thing."

Reva - Sailor Star Aries
Entrance of the Queen’s chamber

Pulling the door knob again and again, each time with more power and more jolt, Reva eventually just kicked the door from frustration and let go, annoyed by the fact that they weren't able to enter the chambers, especially now that they really needed to.

Like surely it would have been too easy to just come and enter the rooms - even she was aware of that - however, standing in front of the locked doors, just a few meters in front of a perhaps still undisclosed secret, was really getting on her nerves now.

"Of course that disgrace of a Queen had to lock her doors before leaving for her oh so great meeting," she began to curse, quiet but still audible to her nearest surroundings. "What a bummer!"
Once more her foot flinched from the control of her brain, hauling off and kicking against the noble wood, completely ignoring the pain that followed once she withdrew her leg. "What a waste..." was the only thing she was still able to say.

She sighed and looked to the ground, taking deep breaths in order to calm down, when she then heard Antares voicing her thoughts, asking her whether they should break the doors or if it would be better to just look for another entrance.
"Well, what would you do, shorty?" she only said after taking a deep breath, slowly turning around to her sister and looking her into her dark brown eyes. "We could try to transform and use our powers...which could cause a stir...or we could look for another entrance...which could take us several more hours until we'd make a new find. What do you prefer?"

Antares-Sailor Star Scorpio
Entrance of the Queen’s chamber
 
Her eyebrow twitched slightly at being called short, but Antares let it slide. Just because Reva was older did not give her permission to hand out demeaning nicknames, but now wasn't the time to hold grudges. She could tell that her sister was one again getting impatient, so the faster solution would be best.

"Let's just break the door down then. Your fire would be the quickest way," she said. And even if someone confronted them about breaking in, Antares's hypnotism and Reva's persuasion skills would most likely allow them to talk their way out of trouble again. 

"If we don't find anything, then we'll just apologize for destroying it and pretend it was an accident." It was a bit underhanded, but this entire situation was sketchy anyway.

"What do you have in mind Delia?" She asked her younger sister as they moved away from what could possibly be the undoing of their current lives.  She felt-satisfied that the others trusted this Queen as little as she did.

As if on cue, at Iris’ question, both girls felt themselves being pulled away from the dungeons. So would all the other girls scattered all over the castle.




Queen Stella sat on her throne, eyeing each of the twelve girls with disappointment and what seemed like mild distaste. For the first time since the Astera sisters knew her, her benevolent smile was gone, replaced by what seemed like barely concealed hatred.

“Where to find the truth indeed,” she mused, leaning her chin on one hand. “So this is how you’ve all decided to repay me. I brought you all back to life, brought you all together again, gave you a roof upon your head and everything you might need. And you decide to spy around my castle, asking questions…” Her eyes slid over to Cassidy and Iris, “…threatening to burn down my castle…” Now her gaze moved to Reva and Antares, “…creeping around like rats.” It stopped upon Emelia and Sirena.

She leaned back, as if waiting for something. “Please… do explain yourselves.”

Iris, Sailor Star Gemini 


"I think it's you that needs to explain yourself," she said boldly, stepping forward. "It seems as if you've been keeping a few things from us, things we deserve to know."

She had opened her mouth, about to suggest to Floria that perhaps a mild freak-out/breakdown—something Delia was known for—could distract a number of palace staff. The words froze on her tongue as she felt a strange pull. When she next looked around, what she saw was the throne room and the displeased look on Queen Stella's face. The young woman's face cycled through a variety of emotions as she stood there, listening to what the Queen had to say.

Her worst fears about this whole thing were suddenly realized, leaving her pale and shaking. Soon there were tears silently running down her cheeks. She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to keep herself at least somewhat controlled, but she was on the brink of a crying fit. Her imagination, overactive as always, only imagined what kind of terrible things Queen Stella could do as punishment to herself and her beloved and dear sisters. What had they all gotten themselves into?!

mercuryfan wrote:

Celeste Nova Astera - Sailor Star Aquarius
Heading down Hallway from Kitchen/Dining Room to Library

Celeste hadn’t walked down the hallway very far after getting Iris’s telepathic message announcing the meeting when she was jolted out of her thoughts about Cassidy’s meeting by a familiar-sounding female voice behind her shouting joyfully “YES!”  Now Celeste wasn’t much of one to jump out of her skin or even flinch when she was startled - a rebel’s gotta keep her instinctive reactions generally under control, right? - but this time, hearing such a loud voice in an inside, fancy, virtually formal setting was such an extreme contrast to what she was expecting that Celeste couldn’t stop herself this time - she visibly flinched.

After a brief second to recover, Celeste turned toward the source of the loud voice that had startled her in such an extreme way and was surprised to see Eliane hurrying up to catch up to her.  Celeste smiled pleasantly at her elder sister for a second, then told her in a serious tone “Careful with how loud you go, Eliane - Just because you feel like a happy-go-lucky 3-year-old doesn’t mean you have to act like one.”


After that, Celeste turned to the main matter she wanted to discuss with her sisters by first looking around (to try to make sure there were no guards of Queen Stella nearby), then (as long as it looked & sounded safe) telling Eliane in a quieter-than-normal voice “Eliane, I’m curious how you’re feeling about our most recent mission.  See, I’m asking because I had a dream last night about it that has me re-thinking these favors we’re doing for Queen Stella.”

Joint Post involving

Eliane Gilda Astera - Sailor Star Leo and
Celeste Nova Astera - Sailor Star Aquarius


Who are you making a 3 year old child? Humph! I am older than you anyway. she said once again on a childish tone. ... but I am glad I actually met up with somebody. I don't like going alone in this big castle. It feels strange... like somebody is permanently watching over us.



Regaining her concentration on the main matter Eliane answered her sister's question on a more serious tone this time: A dream? Was it a bad one? she asked curiously. I think we should investigate more. I appreciate the Queen's kindness in saving us... but still her decision in killing the king didn't seem right. Since everybody else decided to search the insides of the castle I think we should go for the outsides. What do you thi- stomach growling. Eliane blushed a bit. I am sorry! I've been trying to hold it as much as I can but it just continously make those sounds.


“That sounds like a similar end-result to my dream!” Celeste said about Eliane’s feeling that someone was watching over them.  “Because I dreamed that we were doomed after killing that king.  So yeah, I’d say a bad dream.”

When the two sisters arrived at the library, they found it empty.  They had missed their sisters’ meeting.  So they had to decide for themselves what to do from there.

When Eliane’s stomach growled, Celeste smiled somewhat teasingly “That’s okay, Eliane.  Everyone gets hungry every so often.  For example, I’m also hungry now.  Though not as hungry as you apparently are.”

The two of them headed for the kitchen & dining room.  They ate breakfast in relative peace; the only major development during the meal being Celeste suggesting that if they were to do something outside the castle, the best thing would be to go out into the town (in human/civilian form, not senshi form, of course) and interview some of the common people who have lived under Queen Stella’s rule for quite a while to see what they really thought of their queen’s policies and the rebels’ actions.


So after the two of them were finished with breakfast, that is what they did.  They were able to reach several commoners at their homes and ask them about these things, with Celeste usually letting Eliane start the questions.

OOC :

Previously on Twelve Stars...

After being asked by Queen Stella to kill the king of Cresta, a neighboring kingdom whom she claimed had fallen under Chaos' control and was going to destroy her own kingdom, Nova, the sisters have begun questioning their actions. Cassidy, Sailor Star Virgo, launched an investigation into the queen and sent her sisters to look for clues all around the palace.

Cassidy and Iris went to the dungeons and found an oracle locked in one of the cells, who warned the girls not to trust “her”, that she has given a prophecy to the girls’ mother and that “she” was one of them and of their blood.

Emelia and Sirena found an area of the castle that was blocked, almost like with magic. The area was directly adjacent to the Queen’s private chambers.

Eliane and Celeste interviewed the people, and found that none of them spoke ill of the queen, however their expressions were scared and nervous when questioned.

The girls were all then transported to the throne room and confronted by Queen Stella for spying on her.

And now...

---

“If you really wanted to know that much about me, you could have just tried asking me,” the queen said in annoyance. “I see you did not even try this before you decided to spy on me instead.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Please, ask me these burning questions of yours. What would you like to know? I should hope you would trust my word better than that of a criminal, not to mention someone who got me exiled by my own family.”

Her expression visibly changed to that of obvious hatred as she spoke of the old woman in the dungeon.

Maybe if they had caused a big explosion, then the others wouldn't have been caught... Floria was not a fan of being forcefully teleported followed by angry questioning, even if they were trying to sneak more information about the Queen.  What started out as suspicion was further driven into great dislike by Queen Stella's demanding and angry attitude directed at them.  They were only trying to find the truth right?  So then she shouldn't feel so threatened... 

"To truly understand a story, it's best to have multiple views... Besides, if you have done nothing wrong then there is no harm done by mere questioning and seeking."  Floria's voice was firm and strong, she would gladly have the Queen's anger directed at herself instead of any of her sisters.