There was no one here. Hemera landed as the others did, and looked around as Aegle began to call out for any possible trapped survivors. She sort of followed her and SAM, who seemed pretty distressed about the whole thing.

“If there are living things heading away from here, that means the people of this village have probably evacuated,” she noted. “Can you direct us to these other things at the center of the town?” she asked SAM. She liked to think everyone here would have gotten out safely. They would have helped each other and looked out for their family members, right? Hemera had completely missed the red stains on the walls, and it was probably for the best.

Nyx landed with the others and kept close to her sister, examining the scene. Fire everywhere, seemingly blood marks on the walls... She wondered again if her powers could do any good with the fire. Ice was solidified water, and while it would definitely not be as effective as actual water, perhaps it could weaken the flames as it turns to liquid form upon contact with them.

One thing for sure, her power would not be enough to put out the fire in the whole village. She supposed she would have to try it only if things were desperate enough and they had to clear a specific area.

Aegle kept calling out for anyone to answer, but there was no response. "If people were trapped, they would be screaming. Even if they didn't expect anyone to answer their call, they still would. And if they found a safe spot to hide... Perhaps it's best they remain hidden. I don't like this," she commented.

Nyx's worries increased as her sister wanted to check things out. "From what I gathered from what Sam said, and correct me if I'm wrong, the things heading away from the town are different from what is in the center of the town... I'm not sure it's a good idea to go there."

In the meantime, Nyx kept her eyes peeled, at the ready for anything that might grab an opportunity to surprise them.

She tried to keep track of everything that the others discussed. Sailor Chalybs advised caution and mentioned that her energy scanner observed things at the center of the town, possibly not people. Did they mean they were like the inhabitants of Cipriere? Sailor Xtal-Diamante did not yet make the association that these heat signatures could be more things for their team to fight. Cosima stated her assessment with such conviction that Xtal-Diamante took it for truth: There was no one here. They were dead.

Now the sisters spoke of approaching the things at the center of the town: one in favour of and one against. The flames roared around the group, the town slowly being reduced to rubble and ash. But was investigating this what they were supposed to be doing? This was not the entity the compass directed them towards. Were they just wasting time here?

Being physically grabbed wasn't alarming - being lifted from the ground, on the other hand, made her breath catch in her throat, resulting in another fit of coughing that drowned out any protest she might have made. She tried to listen to Sam's report around her coughs, trying to think through what she was telling her; something in the center of town, warm but not alive - but living things were running away from there - that could be the villagers! She shook her head, accepting what Sam said about not having to blindly search, and was released, her boots touching ground again. The middle of the town must not have been far, but, glancing over shoulder, she saw the rest of their group landing. She turned around and headed back that way, ducking her head as she ran so as not to take in too much smoke, and emerged from the buildings, intending to fly over the city to see if there were people on the other side, like Sam suggested --

But Cosima's gaze caught her, the gravity of her words striking her to her core. Breathing heavily the cleaner air, she set her jaw, needing to refute the dark claim, but having nothing to stand on. They may already be dead. It may be that something did it to them. But she wasn't going to give up until that was a sure thing. 

She breathed deeply of the clean air supply when Gabriel used his wings to blow smoke farther away from them, and she straightened, ready to share what Sam had said about the living beings if Sam did not, but coughed once again, and was grateful for Hemera filling everyone in about what Sam had found, and, while she wanted to know what was at the center of the establishment, she wanted to check on the people, first, to see what did that and if they needed help. She appreciated Nyx backing that sentiment, though apparently for reasons other than her own. "I think we should check out the living beings - see if they need help," she paused, taking a final, deep breath, recovering from her run through the smokey corridors. "If they're safe they can tell us what they know about Chaos here," she entreated, "If they're not, we can help and then they can tell us what they know." She turned to Sam, her white wings materializing on her back, "Just on the other side of the city, right?"

DM wrote:

Aldrin hears faint churning in the ground; closer, she hears footsteps receding from somewhere on the other side of the town.

Hadley glanced towards Crysdal, still curious about her recent behavior. It still felt as though the other girl was reacting to all of this so strongly. But she still agreed with the overall sentiment - going to find any kind of life signs, the survivors from this poor ruined village, and trying to help them, seemed to be the best thing for them to do. And if the survivors would truly be able to help their group in return, that just made it all the better.

If it got them away from the center of the fire, Hadley would be happy as well. Despite her earlier readyness to go bounding through the village in search for people, she was still frightening be being surrounded by smoldering flames and sad remains of what once must have been homes.

She didn't say anything to add to the conversation, but instead summoned her own wings. Her happy reunion with the ground had been short-lived, it seemed, but she couldn't complain as the wings certainly did make traveling distances easier. Maybe one day it wouldn't leave her feeling queasy.

Waiting for direction from the others, Hadley was ready to help in any way she could.

Ari furrowed her brows. She could feel nothing magical in the area and the fire and smoke was too much for her to decipher any sounds like footsteps or people talking. The rest of the group caught up and thankfully Sam managed to get Aegle to stop from running in through the village aimlessly.

However Sam's scanners were able to pick up a living creature in the center of town and creatures running away. She furrowed her brows deeper. If it was a creature of chaos and she didn't feel its magic aura...did that mean not all creatures of chaos used magic? It's not like she knew anything about Chaos creatures but it had seemed like something like Chaos would use some form of dark magic to corrupt its victims.

As she listened to the discussion, it seemed they would head towards the creatures, hopefully the villagers, running away. As Aegle and Hadley materialized their wings, Ari followed suit, ready to follow.

"Hopefully the villagers can give us information because whatever is in the center of this town...I couldn't sense any sort of magic energy nearby even though Sam's scanner...thingy..." she stumbled over what to call it and felt the heat rise on her face from embarrassment, "found something."

She could have gone around the smoke billowing out from the burning town - she probably should have -  but instead Crysdal took a deep breath as she jumped up into the air and flew threw it. Her eyes shut tight against the heat and the particles, she pushed her wings as much as she dared and trusted in her innate balance to keep her flying straight and even; the particles surrounding her made the effort like something never before experience with her wings - unlike space or clear skies with the occasional cold and light cloud, this was like swimming through hot, murky waters: uncomfortable and heavy and grimy - she could feel the smokey sludge sticking to her feathered wings, discoloring her uniform, but this was the fastest way and so she did not regret her choice. 

The moment she broke free of the column of black soot, she wiped the palm of her hand on her soft robe and then dragged it across her eyes to clear them, looked down, and paused, her brows furrowing in confusion.

DM wrote:

On the other side of the town was a huge circular gaping cavern that angled down into the ground, the mouth of which had earth piled all around it, as though something had broken through suddenly; the cave itself seemed to go on and on within it. It was large - two stories in diameter easily - and footprints lead back into it.

Characters with good eyesight would be able to determine that the footprints lead out of the cavern too the village beneath those footprints coming from it.

Had the people escaped through there? There was no other option - there were no other footprints in the dirt or sand. 

Decided, she flew towards it.

When Crysdal flew through the smoke, Gabriel followed, if only for company would nothing bad happen, but experience told him something bad always happened. He hesitated while coming close to the smoke, but chose to go through it anyway, making sure he'd stay not to far from her.

The feeling on his wings was wrong, uncomfortable, but who doesn't get dirty in warlike situations?

"Crysdal, wait."

He called out to her, gently taking her shoulder. He didn't know if she was thinking at all. She was the only one left who could help them, she wasn't even armed enough herself and her life was valuable outside the fact she was their only healer. She was being rash on this planet and he didn't know why.

She was more careful on Cipriere.

"You can't just rush without knowing, not with why we're here."

He kept his tone gentle and diplomatic while his eyes caught on the probable reason why she was adamant in going in. He fluttered down, letting go of her for now.

"There are prints going back." He said, looking at the village. "From this to there."

He looked back at her.

"What if this is all a diversion?" He asked, hoping to stall her enough before the others catch up, if they were even following. He switched the side his sword was pointing at the get a look at the compass. "We're off our course and we don't know if there were any real people to begin with." He looked back at her.

"Yes, the other side," she said, confirming the living creatures. It made more sense to investigate them than the weird things in the center of town. SAM internally sighed as Ari fumbled with her scanner's name, but didn't correct her. "If they even are villagers..." she mumbled. This could be another trap. They could be chasing after the ones who set the city on fire in the first place.

Before she could voice the concern at all, Aegle summoned her wings and flew into the smoke again. Didn't she just say she wouldn't go off like that? They could at least go around the smoke. With a grunt of agitation, SAM summoned her wings and cut through after her. The smoke was thick against her visor, and more seeped into her helmet, causing her throat to burn.

She landed behind Aegle and Amarachius with an ungraceful thud, coughing even more. This was getting rough on her respiratory system, and she refused to go through that smog anymore. Her armor was stained dark in a few places, but none of it had gotten on her skin.

"Can we... can we not do that again?" she begged, eyes watering. She blinked and took in the sight of the large cave before them. 

"That looks suspicious..." SAM sniffed ineffectively and wished she could change her filter for a moment to air it out. Her voice sounded somewhat off, even with the helmet changing the pitch of it. "Should we even go in? We could get ambushed."

She shrugged, not really caring which way the others decided to go—she had simply suggested one option in order to get them moving. As Aegle finally flew off again, straight through the smoke, Hemera followed suit—at this point she’d follow anyone who was moving, really—and almost regretted going through the smoke immediately. Thankfully she was able to make it through to the other side.

For a moment she hovered where she was, staring at the strange cave that seemed to come up from the ground, wondering what happened there. She heard Hot Wings said the compass was not pointing here, and if there were no people, maybe they should leave it alone…

Gabriel's hand on her shoulder was enough to make her pause again, staring down into the deep hole below them, her eyes going over the footprints, her heart sinking as he spoke. She was afraid. She was terrified - she had never been so close to a disaster of this size, and she didn't know what to do or how to act and it felt like her insides were dropping away from her second by second. She had to help them - she couldn't stand by, that was wrong, but something was weird about all of this and she had no idea how to handle anything that was going on - she wanted to fix it - she wanted it to be solved, for people to be safe. She didn't want to feel this way anymore! Instinctively, she reached to put her hand over top his, wanting to hold on to someone, but at that moment he flew away and the feeling that she was falling out of control remained. 

She followed him down, hugging herself, and looked at the prints he had caught going in the other direction, her eyes flickering to the dark cave ahead of them uneasily. She listened to what he had to say, but she still felt like abandoning this would be officially giving up on all of these people. As Sam landed heavily on the ground just behind them and voiced her concerns about the cave, she kept on Gabriel's conversation, agreeing that it looked suspicious in there, but not honestly believing they had a choice. "But what if it's not?" she replied insistently, her voice filled with conviction but lacking strength as she looked back towards the burning town. "What if the footprints were creatures that went in, set the fires, kidnapped the people and went back out? We can't just leave them to that fate. What if whoever did this is using this tunnel to do the same thing elsewhere? What are the chances that this isn't chaos? Even if it's not the primary creature we came to fight, shouldn't we end this before other innocent people are hurt?" 

DM wrote:

Sam's readings pick up motion in the tunnel! A crowd of living beings are running away from the town, deeper into the tunnel-cave

She wasn't wrong.
And he hated it.

He knew that desire to help, that fear to be too late, that guilt of not being able to help and in many ways, he still was like that. He hadn't grown out of it yet, his failures and victory on Amarachius proof enough of that, but he didn't know if they could allow themselves the recklessness when the universe seemed to hang in the balance, not just this small planet.

"Is it wise to risk the entire team for 'what ifs?'. I agree with you, I do and with all my heart I wish, but if we go in there and stay trapped... that'd be the end of our mission. I'm okay with it, if it comes to that, but are they?"

He looked down, hesitating about going down, wanting to make sure innocents weren't being harmed. Cosmos knew he would follow - alone if need be - Aegle's own rush, if they had any certainties.

"I could fly quickly in, gather the information we need and fly back out and we'd be settled. But Crysdal, your teammates need you alive."

SAM hesitated as she listened to Aegle's theory. Yes that all could have potentially happened, and it probably was Chaos related, but.. could they even fix it? Was it solvable right now? But Aegle was bent on saving these townspeople, so SAM couldn't really argue against her. She gave in again.

"...I guess we could at least investigate. But if it's too much for us to handle, we need to go back to following the compass. We can't help this planet if we die." That seemed obvious, but she felt like she needed to remind everyone of their morality anyway, agreeing with Amarachius. 

Her visor blinked as it picked up more movement in front of them. 

"There's a crowd of people running farther into the cavern," she said. "If you want to follow them, you'll have to go soon." She took a deeper breath and coughed again, this time harder. SAM grimaced at herself. This was just embarrassing now. "Ugh..." 

It seemed that Aegle was on board with avoiding the center of the town, which relieved Nyx. Not that she was certain which of the two scenarios was better, but by what Sam had told them, whatever was in the middle of the town didn't seem to be villagers.

Nyx prepared to move -- the smoke ahead of them seemed rather overwhelming, so she thought it best to try to go around it.

But then Aegle flew right through it. Of course she would, she thought to herself. Anyway, certainly it wouldn't take them much longer if they went around it, so--

But then Hemera flew right through it too. Silently grumbling, she followed. She wasn't going to let her sister go alone. Especially not now. She felt increasingly worried about her -- in fact, more than normal, she realized, wondering why.

It must have been how they had both got knocked out like that in their last big battle, she supposed.

She hovered next to her sister, coughing, listening to the conversation of the others. The winged boy suggested to go in to investigate. Alone. What part of DO NOT GO ALONE do those people fail to understand? She figured he's probably so sure of himself, isn't he? Pfft.

She continued hovering, silently. She would just do whatever they decided, or rather, what her sister ended up doing. She was fairly certain that if they went in, so would she. No way she'd be able to talk her out of it, no matter what she thought better. So she might as well go with the flow. Aegle seemed really adamant about trying to help, so while Nyx wasn't sure if they were actually helping or making things worse by wasting time here and allowing chaos to take stronger hold, she'd just go for it if need be.

Sailor Aldrin moved with the others, sticking with SAM in particular, running as much as her jelly legs would allow.

"I can hear them," she said to the armored sailor soldier that she confided in. "I can hear the people you speak of. I believe that the sound I am hearing is that of the people."

She hovered in the air as Sailor Nyx did. Her skin rippled on her arms and legs as her sailor soldier magic kept her balanced.

"I will update as many of the group as I can if I hear anything new. I have confirmed that sharing the data I obtain is the best solution. I will now continue the hearing that I am doing. For now, it would do well to remind all that we all should stay alive. This Crysdal, Sailor Aegle as I call her, is needed for healing but I would hope that someone else needs her in part due to personal, social connection to her."

Sailor Xtal-Diamante remained with the group, listening to the whirl of activity. Sailor Aegle darted about frantically, although Xtal-Diamante could not yet associate the girl's evident panic with anything meaningful. Vibrations kept tumbling from the blonde's mouth, many of them spiking with discordant tones when reflected through the rocky young woman. Now they were before a gaping hole, but still the compass did not point this way. Yet the sailor soldier in white and pink seemed determined to go within this cavern and investigate.

Amarachius Sworn suggested that he could dive in and scout what lay within, after he called to their attention the tracks that led out and then back in. He reminded Aegle, as did others, that she could not recklessly risk herself. After all they had been through on the previous planet, Xtal-Diamante could not understand why there remained so much haphazard action. They had only the one clear task, directed by the compass, and the group continued to move farther away from completing it.

Would they choose follow this diversion and go down this path?

Hadley was beginning to worry even more. She frowned, though she kept up with the group, taking in all of the activity and conversation. But overall, she didn't like this. Crysdal's behavior was beginning to frighten her. The heart behind it was understandable, but the way she was going about it made Hadley feel uncomfortable, uncertain.

The compass pointed in the opposite direction, and they were moving farther and farther away from where they were supposed to be going. It felt wrong, somehow, all of this erratic behavior and decisions. But Hadley also felt that need to help whatever people were in danger - felt it in the core of her being. Senshi were supposed to save people, they were supposed to do things that no one else could. They couldn't, in good conscience, just ignore the problems here.

But at the same time, the compass was leading them to the true danger in this world. If they didn't fight against it, if they didn't stop it, these people would suffer even more.

Hadley glanced to Crysdal, further saddened by how the other girl was hugging herself, looking so small. "Crysdal... it's going to be okay. We'll help these people. We'll help all of them." She paused for a moment, feeling like she was messing this up - was she truly certain about all of this? - but pressing forward all the same. She tried to channel her grandmother. What would she say? "That's what we did on Cipriere, after all. And we'll do it again here too. But we have to focus. The compass is leading us to where we need to go, where we'll do the most good. I think we should trust in it, and follow it. All of us together."  

Another pause, ignoring the guilt in her chest at the idea of giving up on helping these people in favor of Sailor Jin's compass. But she liked Jin, believed in her judgment, despite the circumstances of having met her. Surely the compass was their guiding light right now.

Hadley focused on the one thought that was pushing her forward, in spite of the tiredness in her muscles, the mental exhaustion, the worry and the uncertainty, to push back the desire of wanting to sit down and cry.

"Only we can fight against the true evil on this planet. And that's the only way we'll be able to help anyone at all."

Alshain's eyes flicked up as Aegle was lifted from the ground,  flinching backwards at first, though she quickly settled when she realized she would not be handled in such a way.   She had to admit, as the others attempted to dissuade the Princess from rushing into whatever was happening here, that she felt frustration. Not with Aegle herself, but with their ability to be unable to do anything. They get there too late, they can't decide what to do and they don't agree on anything. 

Her attention swung back to the group as Aegle took off for the other side of the village.  She followed straight through the smoke, ignoring the burn and the soot covering her clothes. As she appeared on the other side, her vision took in the sight before them, noticing the footprints that traveled both to and from the village. That wasn't good... Again, the attempts to dissuade Aegle from venturing further. 

"Aegle... Crysdal, we seem to have the habit of being too late, we may be able to help these people, if they are the villagers, but at what cost? One village for the planet? And if it is a trap, more people will die." She moved forward now, placing her hand on her system partner's elbow. "We need you, we can't stop chaos, we can't save these people without you. However, know that I'm with you whatever you decide." Though she felt a little guilty, she recognized that her duty would be to Aegle first.

'Is it wise to risk the entire team for 'what ifs?''
She rebelled against that completely, from the bottom of her heart. Feeling isolated, she hugged herself tighter, staring into the cave, believing herself to be able to see the movement Sam mentioned as she chewed over Gabriel's words. Wasn't that their job - to risk themselves to save people from chaos? No one else could, and if they did not... what hope did people have?

She hadn't want Gabriel to go in there alone - she didn't like his apparent disregard of his own worth to the team, but before she could tell him not to go Sam had widened the suggestion to 'us', an idea she liked more - three of them would be better. She looked over to the metal-encased girl, concerned for her continued coughing, but she didn't know how to help while she had that metal helmet on. Aldrin landed behind Sam and Crysdal looked back to the cave, sourly wondering if Aldrin was upset at all by what was going on. She wanted to go in. She wanted to stop the bad people and end whatever suffering the good people were enduring. She wanted to help; she didn't want to abandon them there in favor of the bigger fish. Aldrin's voice sounded again, this time from above, and she glanced over her shoulder briefly to see her hovering by Nyx, her ears catching the way Aldrin talked as though she could not hear her, and just wanted to leave...

But then there was Hadley, saying what she wanted to hear, despite knowing that the chances of that happening for these people were growing slimmer by the second. As Hadley continued, something small inside her broke and tears sprung to her eyes as the finality set in: they weren't going to follow them. These people would be suffering while they were off figuring out what to do about the bigger fish. These people could be dying while they were trying to find a way to save their own skins.

Elysande only seconded their point. 'We may be able to help these people, ... but at what cost? One village for the planet?' Why did it have to be an either/or? The dark cave swam in her vision, and she couldn't help but to think how scared she would be if she were being dragged through it towards who-knew-what. Why either/or? They could do both - if they worked together she knew they could do both -- but they wouldn't be working together now, would they? They'd only be going in to make her happy, and while she realized she could manipulate it that way - she could just fly in and see who followed - it wouldn't be them working together. When Alshain put her hand on her elbow, she finally looked away from the cave, the two tears breaking free to clear a line in the soot on her face. Her eyes looked into Elysande's and away, to settle on the other's shirt. 

Elysande would follow her, but her heart wouldn't be in it. They'd lose. 

She breathed carefully, straining not to cry, despite the horrible weight in her heart, and nodded. "Let's go then," she said, barely a whisper, and suppressed the heavy feeling eating at her inside. They'd leave them to their fate.

Sailor Xtal-Diamante seized up, feeling a strange tingle pass through her crystalline core. The faceted eyes glanced around, unblinking, wondering where that sensation had come from. The direction was somewhere behind the group... but it was so faint. Whatever caused it was not nearby. Whatever caused it was far... but she hadn't felt anything until just now. Did that mean that the origin of these vibrations was approaching?

The female figure in the plush maroon uniform turned towards the others, looking at those around her. Sailor Aegle was still approaching the cave and seemed determined to continue onward, apparently regardless of their previous instructions. She hadn't heard the young woman's defeated reply, only saw that she still stood near the cavern. Xtal-Diamante couldn't yet stop thinking about what she had just felt.

"Was that felt by any?" she asked, to no one in particular.

Ari groaned as one by one the group flew through the smoke after Aegle. Why is acting to so rashly? Don't they realize that the smoke isn't good for their lungs? She breathed out and then in deeply before she flew through the smoke to meet the others on the other-side. The smoke and heat from the fire made her eyes water and burn.

With her sight blurred, Ari half crash landed next to the group. She coughed and brushed herself off, catching the tail end of the conversation. So...Aegle decided to not go after the villagers...Ari saw the tears streaking her face and her heart sunk. Sure Ari had cried in front of everyone already but seeing someone do so and accompanied with the defeated look on her face? That hit her hard.

Her heard sunk and her ears drooped slightly as she empathized with Aegle's emotions. Even though she had no experience up until being thrown into this Chaos war, she understood the need to want to help those around her. Even with her shy nature, Ari had always had a kind heart with especially soft spot for helping animals and plants in need.

Hex's strange voice--she still hadn't gotten used to the emotionless tone of the voice, Aldrin's was similar but Hex's stood out the most to her--interrupted her thoughts about Aegle and the desire to help the villagers.

"What was felt exactly?" She had felt nothing but the pain in her behind from landing hard on the ground.

"Vibrations, from behind. Distant still, but they were not known to me until now," she explained... perhaps "explained" was still too generous. Still, she was speaking. She was generating resonance within her crystal core and projecting it through her mouth, as the others did. At least this was an improvement over some of the earlier unintentional silence.

She should have been glad that Bastet heard her and asked. With everything that was going on, it was not unlikely that she would have been drowned out among the other discussions and decisions. There were still so many focused on their remaining healer (Xtal-Diamante did not count herself as one) and the imagined plight of whatever people may have been from that burning village. Even if she did not currently understand the gratitude she should feel, perhaps it would be of some use to the group as a whole to consider exactly what was vibrating the ground.

Hadley had hoped that her words would have given some sort of comfort, something that would help with the difficult situation they were all in. She knew she wasn't well versed in these kinds of conversations, she didn't had much experience at comforting others - she barely had experience in simple talking with others - but she had to try. She liked Crysdal, and seeing her so miserable and torn had broken her heart.

And so she had tried, to the best of her ability.

And in the end, she had made Crysdal cry. And somehow, Crysdal looked even more miserable than before. Hadley looked for words to say but she came up short. Her first attempt at apology earlier had gone abysmally, and now she had done so poorly in this too. She knew she should have remained silent, to let the more adept people take charge and try to help. Why had she opened her mouth?

Why was she so bad at talking with others? Perhaps mother had been correct about her.

Instinctively, Hadley sought out the comfort of the nearby plants, wanting to hide herself away within their calming auras, their familiarity and warmth. But the plants gave no solace. This place was so devoid of plantlife, she could barely feel any at all. A hundred different things felt as though they were crashing down upon her. Physical and mental exhaustion, worry and stress, pressure from so many different places, weariness and sadness. To top it all of, there were no plants share with, no grandmother to turn to.

She couldn't remember feeling more alone in her entire life.

Cosima could only watch in silence as Aegle flew off own her own, still adamant on helping the villagers and inspecting whatever dangers dwelled inside the cavern. Her eyebrow twitched as the others chased after her and she couldn't comprehend why they didn't reprimand her for her reckless behavior? She was putting the entire group in danger and distracting them from their mission yet they only tried to get her to stop with gentle words and hand-holding as if she was a child. Yet somehow, much to her own surprise, it worked.

A few tears drops began to fall from Aegle's eyes and Cosima felt something stirred inside her causing her to avert eyes away. A small part of her respected her determination to help, no matter how futile it seemed. It almost reminded her of how she used to be...and she never wanted to be that girl again. People were going to die no matter what they do. The quicker the rest of them realized that, the easier this would all be.

After the rest of their team began to catch up and speak to Crysdal, she finally seemed willing to go back and focus on the compass. Though she certainly didn't look happy Or sound content. She could see the few tears that escaped the other senshi's eyes, even with her friend touching her in some attempt to soothe, and SAM's insides sank like heavy metal in liquid.

Was there no positive solution then? She struggled to work out other possibilities to make a compromise, but found nothing. She just felt useless and crude. The dull burning that clung to her lungs and sinuses from the smoke a minute or so earlier was forgotten, and she turned away from the the cave and most of the other senshi gathered.

She worked with a practiced efficiency as she held her breath, tapped her helmet in a certain place, and popped the filter out. The small, now dirty screen fell into the sand, and she pulled a replacement out to fill in its abandoned slot with a slight clicking sound. She let her breath go again. 

"Air filter clear!" Ferrum chimed to her. Sailor Chalybs didn't respond, already in the middle of adjusting the suit settings located in the gauntlet of her non-dominant hand. She usually didn't enjoy messing with any of her biological levels unless necessary to live, but she was just... confused and drained. Sometimes allowing things to happen as naturally intended was a detriment. The body was a complicated, unreliable system, and it must be regulated and altered for peak performance. All Tech-Spliced knew this as fact.

It was easier to think clearly when she was more focused, like when they fought the Chaos beast on Cipriere.

"...Chemical levels re-balanced to specifications!" Ferrum was just as cheerful as ever, she thought as her system caught up with her command. She momentarily closed her eyes when it hit her. The feeling in her stomach-guilt, she reminded herself-dulled along with the rest of her nervous energy. And the fear, and the embarrassment, and anything else that had been picking at her. Everything was simplified.

Chalybs closed the panel, her expression relaxing into something more blank. Now they could finish the task at hand.

She took a few steps towards where she remembered the compass to point, and turned her head to look back.

"Have we agreed on the compass's direction being the objective?" It didn't quite matter to Chalybs on a personal level anymore, so there was no begging or attitude of any kind in her voice. It was flat.

She heard SAM announced that there were people running deep into the cave. Running from… something? Was something chasing them? The group seemed torn between saving these people or the planet, the latter was apparently in the opposite direction. They could split up, but then again that old woman had advised them to stay together. Besides, none of them knew what was happening in that cave.

Hemera understood the need to save everyone, but she had also learned that sometimes it wasn’t possible, even with this many of them. It worried her that the situation would get worse if they focused on the little things instead of the bigger picture. That they’d start having more and more people in need of help because they were treating the symptom, not the actual illness.

She heard the rock senshi mention that there were vibrations coming from behind them. From the direction the compass pointed?

She really wished she could exert some kind of presence and command the group, but she knew she wasn’t good enough for that. She just wished they’d all stop talking about everything and start doing this.

Seemingly pulled by something, she started floating toward the direction Xtal indicated to check out what could possibly be happening or coming toward them.

It seemed like they would follow the compass instead. Nyx could understand how Aegle was feeling -- leaving innocent, powerless people to their fate did not sit well with her either. But still, who's to say that there wouldn't be other people lost during the time they spent possibly saving them, considering they weren't even certain they needed saving. Perhaps they would be safe where they went.

Perhaps.

"If-- if we hurry up and defeat whatever's causing these things here... It may not be too late for them. If they do need help."

Admittedly, though, she wasn't sure if she even believed herself.

"But we need to hurry."

Nyx floated towards her sister, hoping the others would follow as well. Even she was getting impatient now. To just stand there and keep thinking what to do, without actually doing anything, was certain the worst they could do.

"Is that truly want, Sailor Aegle?" Sailor Aldrin asked in her usual tone. "I can hear them, you understand. I too can track them. For they might yet have some clue as to what construct we face. We would potentially benefit in the acquisition of data as much as the people we would be rescuing."

She looked forward at where the compass pointed. Her orange irises burned bright against the backdrop of flame.

"Is this all we sailor soldiers are? Tools? Such as we might very well be, if our emotional ties to that which is Life, which is Cosmos, is so easily spent for a goal that calls itself Salvation. Though I suppose in this thought, there are far more experienced here than me. Yes, even Sailor Jin and her cohorts might very well be more wise. In this conclusion, is wisdom and knowledge worth more than innocence?"

Her voice began to become more melodious, much like her singsong voice. Did this sailor soldier actually have some emotional range?

"Although, I suppose that time is of the essence, as I have heard some say," she said with... was that a smile? Was she actually smiling as she spoke? But what for? Why would she be smiling at a time like this? Was she being kind? Callous? It was hard to tell. Was Sailor Aldrin even capable of praise or sarcasm?

Everyone kept talking about leaving yet for some reason no one was actually doing it. Whatever sympathy she had managed to muster up for Aegle's hurt feelings lasted just as long as her patience did: not long at all. Aldrin's nonsensical ramblings didn't help her growing agitation either. As Aldrin talked, her eyes scanned over everyone in the group. She was barely older than most of them yet...they hadn't seen or done the things she had. Her eyes fell onto Bastet and Valdis before quickly looking away. 'They were all...innocent.' She thought with a growing scowl on her face, thinking about the blood she had on her own hands. 'They do not understand war...so I will have to make them understand!'

 She wasn't good at being calm and reassuring like Sworn but she could be blunt and that was all that was needed right now. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and then spoke, "People...are going to die no matter what you do." She began slowly, looking them all in the eye. "People will always die. People were suffering and dying before this war started and they probably are going to keep suffering and dying once it's over. Why? Because that is how life works and crying is not going to change it." 

She paused briefly to look directly at Aegle, knowing it was unfair to call her out directly but her feeling of guilt passed as quickly as it had came. "We are at war and war is not fair. As we waste time here, there are people on other planets that are waiting for our aid and could be dying because we took too long. You all are going to see horrible things and have to make more difficult choices like this so I suggest you all accept that soon because you do not have any other choice." 

She turned away on her heel, unfurling her wings before turning her head back to them slightly, "I am going to try to head back towards were the source of the Chaos was." She announced before instantly taking off despite not even fully knowing where she was going and didn't bother waiting for a reaction from the others. If she would be the outcast for speaking the truth than so be it. As she flew away, she felt a tear going down her cheek before quickly wiping it away. Cosima told herself that it was just because of the fog.