Forum: Crystal Tokyo
Type: Relaxed

Plot Summary: After spending a couple adventures together, during a downtime, Sailor Nocturnus decides to visit Sailor Andromeda's planet to have a relaxing beach vacation. Of course, in the world of senshi, relaxing rarely happens. As it turns out, a monster scout from Sarastro, the evil entity threatening her home, has managed to track her down to Andromeda. It is here that she will be forced to face a foe from her past. It's a good thing she isn't alone.

Details on any necessary information: This is just a simple character development storyline where both characters will get to know each other better and fight a single monster together in the end.

Restrictions: Only for Sailor Nocturnus and Sailor Andromeda.

OOC Thread: None

Characters:
Sailor Nocturnus - Aurae
Sailor Andromeda - Sailor Mercury

Sailor Nocturnus

It seemed so strange to be back on Andromeda, after everything that had happened with the Andromeda Spire. There was no time then to see it at its best or have an opportunity to explore it. When Sailor Andromeda invited the young sailor solider to return for a short "vacation", she nearly burst with her attempts to contain her excitement. She cherished all opportunities she had to spend with her new comrades when they weren't racing against the clock to defeat Chaos. Nocturnus already looked up to Sailor Andromeda for being a strong, competent warrior. Now she'd get to spend more time with someone she admired!

The trip to Andromeda had been mostly uneventful, and now they were finally here! It seemed like a very different place without the evil influences. The sea breeze ruffled Sailor Nocturnus' long hair. She could already smell the ocean. It was similar but also different from the harbor near the Crystal Palace.

Sailor Nocturnus turned to her companion, trying not to seem overeager, but failing.

"So... what do we do first?"

She was guiding people around her planet a lot lately.

Not that she minded—it seemed that the people who turned out to be closest to her all originated from outside her planet. Maybe it had to do with her trust issues with people from within her planet, but at any rate, having friends was nice. She’d always felt a soft spot for Nocturnus, much like some of the others—even the tough Sailor Enyalius, she was sure—and it was nice to be able to spend time with the young senshi when their life wasn’t in peril.

As they landed just outside of town, she thought about what they could do here. Naturally, the bar was out of the question, but she didn’t feel much like drinking today, anyway. There was much to see in the city and in the palace, but the jewel of her planet had always laid elsewhere.

She detransformed back to her casual wear, not quite her princess gown but a simple aqua dress that could almost pass for a regular civilian’s attire. “Welcome to Andromeda… again,” she grinned at Nocturnus. “What are you in the mood for? I could give you a tour of the palace, or we could see the city, which is pretty lively this time of day. Or we could just go to the beach and maybe have a little picnic or go for a swim. The ocean’s really pretty when it’s not infested by Chaos.”

She couldn’t help feeling like she wanted to show off her home, which was quite beautiful if she did say so herself, especially now that the Chaos infestation was gone. She hated the thought that the only memory her friends had ever seen of her planet was the one Chaos made it out to be.

Sailor Nocturnus

Pamina's clothing was one of many, many things that identified her as a foreigner on this planet. She wore a school uniform, a garment related to her current existence in Crystal Tokyo. As usual, it consisted of dark colours—almost vaguely reminiscent of her attire as a sailor soldier. She was more comfortable in this kind of thing than her formal dresses. Those just reminded her of home.

The number of choices that Kira offered made it really, really difficult for Pamina to chose!

She pondered them quietly and seriously, musing over the different options. On the one hand, she hadn't seen all that many palaces besides the Crystal Palace. (Her mother's dwelling was simply "home" to Pamina, a distinction that obviously disqualified it from counting to the young girl as "a palace".) On the other, she hadn't seen a lot of cities either. Crystal Tokyo had a lively quality to it, but now she could compare that liveliness to this one! But also there was the beach option! Picnics! Swimming! This kind of oceanic region did not exist in her own world, and she had not exactly had opportunities to take beach vacations on Earth. That made "beach" extra appealing.

"I'd really like to see the ocean now that it's back to normal," she mentioned, her voice somewhat timid. "Do you think we could still do the other stuff later?"

Kira suppressed a smile as she watched Nocturnus—or rather, Pamina—mull over her options seriously, as if this would decide the success and failure of today’s outing. A part of Kira longed to provide a second home for this lost young senshi because she had none.

She grinned when Pamina decided on the ocean and asked if she could still do the other things later. “Of course. You can even stay a while if you like. We have plenty of rooms in the castle for guests. Let’s go to the ocean, then! But first, let me get some refreshments.”

She had asked for a picnic basket to be prepared ahead of time, and needed only to make a quick visit to the palace to retrieve it. The basket was full with all sorts of bread and sandwiches as well as some fresh fruit juices native to the planet. She couldn’t wait for Pamina to taste all the new cuisine.

Thankfully, wherever one stood in Andromeda, they were always only a short walk away from the ocean. At this time of year, the weather was pleasant; there was a cool breeze, though the temperature never dipped close to freezing. Andromeda was a tropical planet after all, and the climate remained somewhat stable year round. As they walked, the road slowly gave way to pristine golden sand, and the blue-green ocean glimmered in the distance, its calm waves rolling to the shore. Aquatic birds let out their distinctive sounds as they soared above the white caps, occasionally diving down to get fish. A couple of mermaids and mermen sunbathed on a wide rock jutting out from the water.

There was a blanket atop the picnic basket, and Kira looked around for a place to spread it. “Shall we sit under that tree?” she pointed at one of the tall palm-like trees along the shore.

Sailor Nocturnus

Pamina readily agreed to Kira's suggestion of the tall palm-looking tree. It provided an ample shadow across the soft sand, just the right place to lay a picnic. Pamina was reminded of scenes she had seen in paintings, but never in real life had she been anywhere like this. Her dark eyes seemed fixated on the ocean; it was marvelous! The child nearly tripped over her own feet several times, so distracted was she by the waves that rolled by. The mermaids and mermen, with their fish tails and humanoid torsos, were so different from the monsters she remembered when they were here last.

"It's so beautiful here!" she breathed, delighted.

Pamina eyed the basket, wondering what Kira would unpack. She was definitely hungry after their travel to get here!

Kira couldn’t stop smiling seeing how excited Pamina was. “I’m glad you like it! Do you have oceans where you’re from?” she asked, curious to learn more about Pamina’s planet. The girl hardly ever talked about it beyond that it was in peril and that it was the reason she’d been sent away. Kira had been wondering if they couldn’t cleanse the planet together the way they had done for Andromeda and all those other Chaos-infected planets. Surely if everyone worked together… and Neo Queen Serenity too…?

She unfolded the blanket, laid it on the ground, then began pulling out the contents of the basket. There were two still-cool bottles with bright colors. The liquid inside the first bottle was a shade of pink. “So I have two drink options for us! Not that you can’t have both, of course. This pink one is called Acantha juice. Normally the fruit is used with alcoholic drinks, but this one’s just dissolved in water. It’s kind of tangy on first sip with a pleasantly sweet aftertaste. And this other one…” She pulled out the other bottle, a bright yellow one. “It’s called Siren’s Tears. It’s like a weak version of champagne, so it has a tiny fraction of alcohol in it. Doubtful it could get you anywhere near drunk, though. This one’s mostly diluted with lemon, too, and tastes just like that.”

She then dug out the food. There was the usual breads, though they looked and tasted slightly different than their earth counterparts, and some small cakes made specially by the palace cook, whose ingredients were a mystery even to Kira. She picked up a plump brown bread with the shape of a seashell. “These are my favorites,” she grinned. “They’re called Conch Bread and they have a really delicious savory taste. It’s like… eating the ocean. Somehow it recalls all the tastes of the sea in this one simple-looking bread. Hard to describe… you’ll have to try it out yourself.”

Sailor Nocturnus

Pamina shook her head at Kira's question.

"No, nothing like this. Where I'm from doesn't look anything like anywhere we've been. We have water but it doesn't look like this water. We have big... uh, things of water but it's not like these oceans on your home. No matter where I've traveled, I haven't found any place like my mother's realm."

Her attention was quickly diverted to the picnic. Her dark eyes carefully observed all the beverages and foodstuffs that Kira pulled out. Everything looked so interesting and tasty!

Pamina took Kira's suggestions, opting for the pretty pink drink and the seashell bread first. She took a bite of the bread, closing her eyes and concentrating.

"You're right!" she exclaimed gleefully. "It tastes like these waves smell and then fish and stuff."

The dark-haired girl took another bite, the wind off the sea tugging tendrils into the air. Her star-shaped hair clips glittered in the sunlight.

"Do you eat here all the time? I'd eat here all the time if I lived here. It's so peaceful and nice," she sighed, looking out at the way the sun's rays glittered across the crest of the moving ocean.

“I think I would like to see it someday. Your mother’s realm,” Kira’s gaze turned to the sky, wondering what it was like over there. Big things of water but not like the ocean? That was certainly curious. Was the planet always as dark as the night?

She smiled when she saw Pamina’s reaction to the bread. It felt so good to see the smaller girl not in life and death situations, but actually enjoying life like she should be doing.

Kira giggled at the question and glanced at the ocean. “It certainly beats a five-star restaurant’s scenery, doesn’t it? But no, I don’t always eat here. Maybe… when you have been living somewhere all your life, it’s hard to keep appreciating the novelty for a long time.”

She suddenly wished Pamina could live there too, so Kira could take her for picnics here every day. It would be such a nice home for her. She supposed Crystal Tokyo was great too, but the city of crystal spires always seemed so sharp and cold to Kira.

“Where do you live, by the way? And do you stay there alone?”

It was so unfair that a girl this young had to leave her home and her family behind. No one deserved to grow up without a family. Even as she thought about her own and her issues with them, Kira knew that she could never truly let go of them.

Sailor Nocturnus

Today she wore the Asturlab on a delicate chain around her neck, the golden compass dangling down. Her fingers twirled it idly, temporarily pulled out from where it had been tucked under the sailor collar of her school uniform, as she considered Kira's question.

"Right now I live at school, in Crystal Tokyo. There's a small dormitory—mostly foreign exchange students. I don't have roommates, but I'm not really alone."

She neglected to mention that she was one of very few students who did not share a room, something the other students regarded with suspicion. And the only one who never went home for holidays. She certainly wasn't surrounded by friends; there was always something about her that singled her out among the group of children. It was as if they all knew she didn't belong.

"I live wherever I end up," she continued, marked with a small shrug. "I figure out how to get by. Until I can move on."

It was already unusual that she had stayed in Crystal Tokyo this long. She was searching for home, and this certainly wasn't it. But this place had other sailor soldiers. There were things she could learn from them. If she found her way back to her mother as she was right now, even with the training she had gained, it wouldn't be enough. She wouldn't be able to help fight Sarastro.

Her dark eyes were focused on the distant horizon over the sea, but she wasn't actually looking at it. Pamina's thoughts were elsewhere, somewhere that only she could see.

Kira thought the living arrangement Pamina spoke of was still pretty lonely. No roommates, living at a school rather than a true home? It felt wrong. She might not be alone, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t lonely.

“Well, you know… if you ever get tired of your dorm, you can stay here whenever. Our castle has a lot of rooms… and we can even be roommates if you’d prefer not to sleep in yet another strange place on your own. My point is… my home is always open for you. Anytime. For as long as you like,” she said sincerely. She would actually love to have Pamina around; it’d be like having a little sister for once. Part of the reason Kira had always felt so lonely was because she was an only child, and being around the younger senshi had made her feel a little differently.

Sailor Nocturnus

Pamina looked at Kira with a mixture of surprise and happy shock. She couldn't quite understand such an open and generous offer. It's true that they were friends now that they had fought together a few times, but this was not something the dark-haired child would ever entertain even a small hope for. She was so much younger than the others. She wasn't a very strong fighter. She was probably just a burden. Yet people didn't make such kind displays to those who burdened them...

"T-thank you," she stammered, a slight blush on her dark cheeks. She fidgeted with her hair, tugging at the pigtails.

"It's really nice here. I would like to spend more time here, again. Thank you."

How long could she stay? How long could she remain here, in this place that wasn't home? What trials might her mother be facing? How could she know what Sarastro and his evil forces might be doing? Was she abandoning them by remaining away for so long?

She touched the Asturlab, rubbing her fingers across the metallic surface. If only she could use it to go home. It had taken her so many places, but the one location she sought so desperately it seemed powerless to aid her in her journey towards.

But no, she was learning, here. She was gaining control over her strange abilities. She was learning more than just sailor soldier tasks, as well. Pamina met so many people during her travels. She interacted with teams, working together to solve the same goal. Surely this would all make her a better princess, for when she returned someday. She had to believe in this path.

Once again, her dark eyes looked out across the rolling, gentle waves of the vast Andromedan sea. The salty breeze pulled at her dark hair, the metallic star clips gently jingling as they moved. She wondered what it would be like to swim in that ocean, now that Chaos no longer infected it. Not to mention that swimming must be a different experience when one was not transformed.

Kira smiled as her offer seemed to be well-received. She was actually looking forward to spending some of her days with Pamina without being in life and death situations. Oh, all the things they could do together, having fun and showing her everything Andromeda had to offer! Giving her the home that she was missing. A strange aching feeling flared up in her heart at these thoughts; she never realized that despite still having one, she still yearned for a family. One that she made herself, comprised of people she could trust and genuinely cared about her, people who would never even think of betraying her in the way her own had.

She could see Pamina touching the item they often used to show the way when they traveled in space, something that Kira understood reminded her of home. Here they were; two lonely people longing for something they didn’t have, and she could only hope they could find it in each other.

She followed the girl’s gaze to the ocean and smiled. “Did you want to go for a swim? It’s not advisable to do it right after eating, but we can totally do that in a little bit if you like. I can even introduce you to the merpeople—they’re nice.”

Sailor Nocturnus

She responded immediately with plenty of enthusiasm. It was as though Kira had read her mind!

"Yes! Um, yes, please!" she cheered, the second phrase slightly less squealing-y and more composed than the first.

"Woooooooow, merpeople?"

They had seen several merfolk types both on this planet and others, not to mention the sailor soldier of that type who fought with them on several missions. But she had never met any of them. The last time she had been on Andromeda, it was not terribly inviting in that ocean. Merpeople from that encounter were not really the ones she wanted to meet again, but she knew that was due to the influence of Chaos. Now that it was cleared, it should be very different. It was so amazing to know that there were so many different inhabitants of this vast universe!

Pamina did her best to wait patiently until they could go for a swim, and she changed into her bathing suit in a blur of anticipation nearly rewarded. She made a somewhat confusing attempt to braid her long dark hair into something that might be less seaweed-like once she was fully submerged, expecting this experience to be very different from when she was in her sailor soldier-in-training uniform.

The girl looked up at Kira for guidance, ready to follow her. This was truly going to be a "grand tour" of Andromeda—both land and sea!

A while later, after they both changed into bathing suits and repacked their picnic basket, Kira led Pamina to the beach, where the ocean met the shore. She dipped her bare toes into the warm clear blue water and slowly worked her way to the middle, waiting for Pamina to catch up. She figured the girl could swim since she was so excited to do this, but just in case, she wanted to be close.

The nearest group of merpeople was lounging on a rock not too far out into the sea, and Kira waved at them. “Hello, ladies and gents. I would like to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Pamina.”

There were three of them on the rock; a red-haired mermaid, a blonde haired one with a pixie cut, and a dark-haired merman. All of them had the appearance of someone whose age was hard to guess, could be somewhere between a young adult and decades older—either way, they had an immortal beauty that was unrivaled by the human population on the planet. Their fins were colorful shades of green and blue, though the merman’s was silver. The blonde mermaid gave Pamina a friendly smile while the other two appeared more curious.

“This is Marilla,” she gestured at the redhead, “Tethys,” the blonde, “and Adrian,” the merman. “Pamina is visiting here for the first time,” she told them.

“Hello, little one. Welcome to planet Andromeda. I love your hair, it’s so pretty!” Tethys grinned as she waved at Pamina.

Sailor Nocturnus

Swimming in this ocean without the various magical benefits of her sailor soldier form took a little bit of getting used to, but thankfully it wasn't very hard for Pamina. She paddled out behind Kira, her strokes awkward in their lack of practice but generally sound. The long dark hair snaked behind her as she swam, the star-shaped clips glinting down into the depths. The water seemed cold at first, but now she had adjusted to its temperature and thought it pleasant and warm.

When they approached a group of merfolk, Pamina tucked herself slightly behind Kira. She felt shy in the presence of these newcomers, even though she wanted so much to meet them. Their casual and cheerful demeanors helped put her at ease.

Remembering the customs learned on Earth in Crystal Tokyo, the dark-skinned young girl made an attempt to bow. It resulted in just a strange bobbing motion as she remained suspended in the gentle waves of this vast ocean.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she replied. "This is a lovely place."

At the compliment paid to her, she blushed. "T-thank you!"

She found herself marveling at their beauty, although she tried to avoid being rude and staring. But everything about the trio was elegant and mysterious. Pamina couldn't even imagine what it might be like to live in the water, submerged deep beneath the waves. Frolicking in the tangles of seaweed and floating alongside the numerous fish and other creatures that lived in the depths of the ocean blue... It must all seem normal to these mermaids and merman, but what interesting thoughts it inspired for this young traveler!

Kira suppressed a smile when she saw Pamina slightly hiding behind her, probably out of shyness than anything else. At least she hoped it wasn’t fear. There was a certain warmth in feeling protective toward someone younger than her, and not for the first time she wished she had a little sister of her own.

“I’ve never seen you with a friend, Princess. Especially from outside the kingdom. Good for you,” Marilla said as she twirled her hair lazily. Her demeanor was casual, but Kira could glimpse the depth behind the words; some of it genuine support, and a small part of it was a jab at how she had closed herself off from everyone since ‘the incident’, as she had taken to calling it.

“Well. All that adventuring has really been… helpful,” Kira shrugged nonchalantly. She turned to Pamina. “If there’s anything about them you’re curious about, feel free to ask! They’re very friendly despite their rather inhuman appearance,” she said with a playful smirk. “They’re also really good swimmers, too. Oh, if we’re lucky, we could probably also find some Hippocampi as well; we can ride them!”

Kira was surprised to find that Earth’s version of a seahorse was so tiny in comparison. What kind of evolutionary mess happened there?

OOC:

OOC:

Sailor Nocturnus

The dark eyes widened and sparkled with a child's delight.

"There's a creature we can ride? They don't mind?" she asked, unsure of exactly what a Hippocampi would be, but intrigued at the thought.

The ocean was, in fact, wonderful without the lurking corruption of Chaos. The water was cool but not too cold. The waves gently lapped against her body, rather than being so strong and rough that it was a constant struggle to maintain her position. The fish and other ocean life swam around her, primarily ignoring the group, no longer focused on attacking and harming as they had been during the Andromeda Spire debacle.

The dark-skinned small form eyed the merfolk again, considering Kira's comment that the group was friendly and would willingly answer questions. What did she want to ask? She didn't want to be rude and prying—and anything too personal wasn't really the sort of information Pamina wanted to know.

"I've never been in an ocean like this, and it's so beautiful!" she finally voiced, after a brief pause of Very Serious Thinking. "Is there anything nearby that would be really wonderful to see?"

She figured that the ocean, much like the land, must have a few highlights: perhaps some kind of natural formation, perhaps a particular type of creature. If the merpeople lived within the watery depths and shallows, the young girl thought they might be able to provide a handy reference of a few neat things to see.

Although the seas remained free of the influence of Chaos, another power lurked at a distance. A pair of orange eyes, brighter than any sun, observed the turquoise-haired princess of this planet and her small visitor. It was the visitor, with her long dark locks and glittering star adornments, that captured its attention. The creature remained silent and still, partially submerged among the waves; above the surface showed only the eyes fixated on the duo. Could this child be the daughter, the one they had tried to obtain so many times?

The crowd around her was too great, right now. It knew that the likelihood was high that it could overpower the strange sea-people, but perhaps not all three, and even less so with the child and her companion. The power of awakened knowledge inspired great awe, but it was not to be used recklessly. It would have to wait, and watch. Wait for the time when the two separated from the group. Two it could take on alone.

OOC:

“Nope, Hippocampi actually really love giving you rides. I’ll see if I can call one over later,” Kira replied with a grin.

The three merpeople glanced at each other with hidden smiles as Pamina asked if there was a wonderful place to see. “Well… there is our underwater kingdom,” Thethys said, barely able to contain her excitement.

From that point on, the merpeople summoned the previously mentioned Hippocampi to take them all to their underwater kingdom in the depths of the sea. They gave Pamina and Kira a pearl to swallow that would allow them to breathe underwater, and the five of them journeyed into the merpeople’s territory. The coral palace towered from the bottom of the ocean, though its spires never broke the surface. The place was teeming with colorful plants and fishes and more merpeople, young and old alike, though not a single one appeared to age beyond their twenties. There they were treated to the local cuisine, delights that could only be imagined in most people’s dreams with new flavors previously unknown by human taste buds.

The excursion lasted until the pearl’s effects almost wore off about an hour or so later, and now Kira and Pamina were returning to the shore by another Hippocampi ride.

The thrill of their adventure still fresh, Kira smiled at Pamina as they stopped near the shallow waters of the beach once more. “How did you like it? They’re pretty amazing, aren’t they? There’s an entirely different world under the waters here that most people don’t get to see. I hope you had fun.”

Sailor Nocturnus

The entire tour of the underwater kingdom had nearly frozen Pamina's face with an expression of awe and wonderment.

"That was amazing," she replied to Kira, the dark eyes shining.

Her mind still reeled with all they had seen—the spiraling towers, so much colourful coral and sea life, and the beautiful otherworldly merpeople. The gentle horse-like sea creatures that graciously allowed the pair to ride them made the entire trip even more magical. Everywhere she looked beneath the waves there was something truly astonishing. As much as Andromeda was beautiful above the surface, all that existed deep within the ocean was without comparison. It was almost too much for the young traveler to take in.

"Are we headed back to the town, now?" the dark-haired child asked.

Pamina had barely been able to finish saying her question when a flare of blazing light shot past her. She gasped, stumbling backwards, eyes searching for the source of the attack. Some kind of horrible, bright thing rose up out of the ocean, but it was unlike the creatures they had fought when Chaos corrupted this planet. The strange beast had the back legs of a lion, but the tail and body of an eagle...but more unusual than that it had two bird heads with long forked tongues visible from the open sharp beaks.

"Daugggggghhhhhterrrrrr," it hissed, the eyes glowing brighter than coals.

The wings, massive and powerful, spread out from its body. A halo flared around it, glowing brighter than any sun. The dark-haired child stared at the creature, frozen in terror. She knew this thing. It belonged to the forces of her mother's sworn enemy, Sarastro!

“Yeah, I think we should head back—” Kira didn’t get to finish her sentence when light suddenly shot past Pamina, startling her. Kira turned in surprise to find the strange beast rising up out of the ocean. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought about the possibility of another sea monster—but no, this one didn’t look aquatic at all. It seemed to be a cross of a lion and an eagle with two heads.

She narrowed her eyes as the bright creature rose up in full, and did not hesitate. “Andromeda Celestial Power, Make Up!”

She transformed in a flash, and threw an attack toward the creature. “Wave Tide Maelstrom!”

Ocean waves crashed around the creature, entrapping it momentarily in a whirlpool.

“What is it saying?” she asked in confusion. “Did it say ‘daughter’?”

Whose daughter?

Seeing Kira transform into Sailor Andromeda was just enough push for Pamina to come to her senses so that she could follow suit. The child dove for the basket the pair had carried and hurried to fish her Asturlab out from the interior. As her small fingers closed around it, her soft voice called out.

"Illuminate the Darkened Night!"

The glitter of stars, all within the warm embrace of darkness and space. The soothing sensation of that void...it felt like Mother. Every time she transformed, that tug of memory mixed with longing, forming something else: a reminder of why she was here.

Now in her form as Sailor Nocturnus, she rushed forward to where Sailor Andromeda stood with the horrible thing from Sarastro now trapped in a whirlpool. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she tried to think of how to respond. Even now, she could feel the glowing eyes staring at her, and knew exactly what it was looking for.

"It... it's not from Chaos from before!" she tried to explain to the older girl. "S...Saras..."

She choked on the name, remembering the horrors of her home: the war. The endless war.

"It's looking for me! Because of my mother," she continued. Her voice was pleading, frightened. "We can't let it escape. We can't let it tell him!"

Of course she wanted to go home. She wanted to know where home was, instead of wandering like this with no path. She wanted to see her mother—she wanted to feel the loving embrace of those strong arms and smell the powdery scent of her mother's shampoo from her long, flowing hair. She wanted to be together again with the person she loved more than anyone else in the world, the one who had always been there for her. She didn't just want to be protected, she wanted to stand next to her mother and fight with her, proving that she possessed powers, too. Powers to keep the people she cared about safe.

But not like this.

Pamina transformed beside her and rushed to stand beside her. Strangely enough, she seemed to know who this monster was. It was not a leftover from the Chaos Seed, which was definitely a good thing.

But then… The younger soldier looked positively terrified like Andromeda had never seen before. Her panic was obvious as she spoke about how the monster was after her. So this was one of the beings attacking Nocturnus’ planet? No wonder Nocturnus seemed so scared.

“Of course we won’t let it escape,” she said without the slightest doubt in her voice. There was no way Nocturnus was going to get in trouble while she was on Andromeda. “Do you… want me to handle it? Or would you rather do the honors?”

She wanted to kill it, of course, but… this was personal for Nocturnus.

And she would understand if Nocturnus wanted to be the one to dispose of this monster. She would be glad to assist, of course. But this was what being a soldier meant, and she did not want to deny Nocturnus the chance to protect her own planet and people.

She felt transfixed, watching the creature thrash about in the swirl of water that Andromeda had created. The blazing eyes never left the figure of the child; she knew it watched her, recording information, ready to fly back to its master. Nocturnus swallowed hard, trying to clear her mind of the fear revived by all those memories. The older girl's voice registered somewhere on the edge of her consciousness, providing a point of stability to try and calm her fluttering nerves.

This monster served as proof that the war raged on. Sailor Nocturnus knew that she couldn't let it tip the balance of that great conflict towards the side of "enlightenment".

"I... I don't know that I can," she replied hesitantly to the oceanic sailor soldier's question. After all, she was just a sailor soldier-in-training. Most of the time her attacks betrayed her, unable to focus her powers in a meaningful way. Still...

"I have to try." This time the soft voice was firm, the dark eyes having lost the confused look of horror. Now they remained locked with the burning eyes of the lion-bird hybrid, unflinching.

The dark-clad little girl took a deep breath.

"Please... mother... " she prayed silently. "Lend me your strength."

She saw the monster whip itself around, beginning to break through the barrier that held it. The fingertip of her black glove glowed softly with the telltale energy signature, increasing in intensity as she drew it around herself.

"Ecliptic... Rotation!"

The beast screeched, lurching forward, but was thrown backwards as the force of the small golden stars shot towards it. Each correct hit seemed to burn right through the monster, and it hissed and protested as it wriggled forward, the eyes never dimming. It seemed injured, but still prepared to strike or escape at any minute. Sailor Nocturnus paused to catch her breath, briefly exhausted.

OOC:

“Of course you can,” she put her hand on Nocturnus’ shoulder to encourage her. “You have your powers for a reason. You are a senshi for a reason.”

She smiled, feeling proud as Nocturnus’ resolve strengthened, and watched as she released her attack towards the monster. The attack that was so familiar to Andromeda hit the monster squarely and seemed to injure it, yet it was about ready to release itself from the whirlpool. As it broke free from it and launched itself toward them, Andromeda reacted quickly and raised her hand towards it to unleash another one of her own abilities. “Ripple Shard!” she cried, sending bits of sharp steel raining down upon the monster. The attack knocked it back, away from them, and it fell back into the ocean. It seemed weakened now, and this would be the perfect time to finish it off.

“I don’t think it has much energy left,” she urged Nocturnus.

Her success felt encouraging, but she still hesitated. She was still just a sailor soldier-in-training. This awful thing was sent here by Sarastro—he was powerful. He faced off against her mother, able to hold his own against the immensity of the Queen of the Night's power. What did that mean for her? She could do so little, whether she was being compared to her queen mother or all of the sailor soldiers she had fought alongside. Maybe this was better left to someone capable, like Andromeda...

But she didn't have a chance to give that thought more pondering, or to suggest such a thing. The wounded creature screeched, and she caught a glint of crimson-orange in the beast's eyes. The massive, powerful wings spread around it... and she realized in one horrifying moment that it was going to try and escape.

It would tell Sarastro.

He'd find out where she was.

Her reaction felt automatic, fueled by the certainty of what she risked and what she had to do. The Celestial Sphere had materialized in her outstretched hands before she realized she had summoned it. She could feel the power of her mother's stars pulsing through her body as she held the twinkling orb, her dark eyes reflecting the endless galaxies projected within.

"I must stop it," filled her mind as her only thought. "For Mother."

She felt like she moved slowly, too slowly, tossing the sphere and watching it expand into a bevy of stars around her, but it happened more quickly than the monster could comprehend. And then she was dancing, tracing the path, the stars contracting down to her fingertip, the glow too bright to stare directly at.

"Midnight Zenith!" she called, her voice unusually confident.

The single star dashed forward, piercing the creature before it could take off. The eyes opened widely, the mouth screamed, and then golden energy surrounded and dissolved it.

Anyone looking back at the dark-uniformed sailor soldier-in-training would have seen a curious sight—the faint shadow of a tall woman, billowing hair and long gown, leaned over the petite form, hands placed firmly on the shoulders, her head dipped low to follow the child's determined gaze. But it seemed so faint, and with another glance or a blink of one's eyes that vision disappeared.

Sailor Nocturnus held her pose for a moment, then slowly lowered her arm, blinking at the space where the monster had been. Was it truly... gone?

Andromeda watched as Nocturnus brought out a sphere that seemed to contain the entire galaxy, amazed when stars exploded from it, so much so that she forgot about the monster for a moment. Nocturnus was releasing a power she had never witnessed before, in all their missions together. Andromeda shielded her eyes from the bright light as Nocturnus’ voice grew stronger.

She managed to see the star hitting the creature right on target, and suddenly it just… vanished. As if it was reduced to dust. She turned toward Nocturnus with surprise, but was met with another shock; she could see a shadow of a woman behind her, beautiful and majestic, her hands on Nocturnus’ shoulders. She blinked, and the vision dissolved as if it was never there.

She blinked some more to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Nothing really was there.

“Nocturnus… that was amazing. Is that a new power? I’ve never seen you do that before,” she redirected her attention to the younger senshi. “You vanquished the monster! You did it!” she grinned, hugging the smaller girl.

A memory of the figure flashed in her mind, and Andromeda smiled softly. “And I think your mother might have been here, too. Did you feel her presence with you just now?”

"My... my mother?" she gasped, looking up at Andromeda within the older girl's embrace. Her mind raced back to what had just happened, with that new and bright power so quickly destroying the horrible monster. She knew almost instantly that the oceanic sailor soldier's question wasn't a baseless one. Nocturnus had felt her mother's presence. For just a moment it felt like that person she longed for so much had been briefly reunited with her.

Maybe that was how she had been able to summon this kind of power.

"I did use it before," she corrected. Long ago, when they fought against the Collector. After all, that was when she had received this strange and mysterious sphere—now her own weapon, a part of her as a sailor soldier. But the power generated in that battle hadn't been only Sailor Nocturnus. "But it wasn't me that time. It was the other sailor soldier."

She could still remember the feeling of the Celestial Sphere in her hands, and she knew it would appear if she summoned it. She concentrated for a moment, cupping the glowing ball of stars in her dark-gloved hands, and gesturing Sailor Andromeda to it with a nod of her head.

"The one who gave me this."

Nocturnus felt so relieved to know that the monster was gone. It wouldn't be able to tell Sarastro. She wouldn't drag all of that terrible stuff into the lives of people who had helped her so much, like Sailor Andromeda and her beautiful so-recently-restored planet.

Still, even with so much else to think about, it was hard for the girl not to fixate on the comment about her mother. She beamed at the other young woman, never one to miss an opportunity to speak of someone so dear to her.

"You saw my mother? Did you? Isn't she pretty?"

Andromeda tried to recall the moment Nocturnus referenced and realized that she might not have remembered it because back then every single one of the other senshi had been strangers to her. They were just another face in the crowd for her, something unthinkable when she thought about Nocturnus now. It wasn’t until Zenar that their bond started becoming stronger and truly formed into something special.

“Right, the spirits of the lost senshi…” she said softly, remembering her own Trident, passed down by her own predecessor who had once been lost to Chaos. She wondered how many of the others who had received items that day got to know the identity of their givers and had a special connection with them just like Kira had with Nerida.

She smiled when Nocturnus grew visibly excited talking about her mother. “Yes, she is very pretty. Looks a lot like you, too. I can imagine when you grow up you’ll look just like her.” Her tone was wistful and full of regret. A child should never be without her mother, especially if said mother loved her very much. Hers had her own mistakes, but even so she found it hard to truly cut ties with family.

“Nocturnus… can’t Neo Queen Serenity help you? Or even us? Can we go to your home and help save it, and your mother?” she asked hopefully, even as she knew there must be a reason this had not even been proposed already.

The excited face grew solemn now. Sailor Andromeda's question was a reasonable one. Now that it had been asked, Nocturnus felt strange to think that no one else had raised that query before. The answer felt heavy on her tongue—distasteful. Bitter. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves before she spoke. She wasn't sure the words would come out just right, but she had to try.

"My home..." she began, awkward and slow. "Is very far away."

She thought of her early interactions with sailor soldiers. She remembered the aid promised to her by Neo Queen Serenity, that almost mythic figure. It would have been wonderful if it was that simple. Nocturnus remembered her fear when the Chaos seeds were planted on so many of her teammates' planets, wondering if her world would be targeted as well—and if there was anything she could have done about it if that had happened.

"Neo Queen Serenity said that she would help me. But no one knows where it is, or how to get there. Sailor Pluto doesn't see it. I've asked the Asturlab to take me home. It doesn't show me."

She had asked so many times. It was almost a ritual by now. Nocturnus had asked, whispered, begged, and sobbed for it to show her how to return to her mother. Unlike when she used it to lead the group among the stars from planet to planet, there was no glow and trail of stars to follow. Every time she used it randomly, sending herself through time-space, she hoped that her destination would be home. It never was.

She tried to shrug, but there was no way for the move to signal nonchalance. Instead it just made it clear how wrung the child's heart was to reflect on this ordeal. Sailor Nocturnus forced a smile, although she did mean it at least in part. But effort was needed to overcome the initial sad reaction.

"I wish you could help save it," she said, the voice hopeful but sad. "Maybe if we find it."