Out of the available classes, two were obvious choices, as far as Panzer was concerned: System-Wide Defense Fields and Citizen Defense Forces. She had interest in each and felt fairly certain that she would receive the best return on her investment of time with her attendance at this pair. At the inquiry from the young woman in yellow and blue, she made her choices known at the next opportunity.

"I planned to attend System-Wide Defense Fields and Citizen Defense Forces," Sailor Panzer stated. Although, as she listened to the others, she heard that many were planning to take that first course. Perhaps it would be better to diversify?

"However, perhaps it would be useful to swap the first for Motivating Teams Effectively," she continued. To be fair, motivation rarely came up as a topic for the armored young woman. She had learned quite a bit from the military lean of her home system, but her personality frequently came up short when the emotions and needs of others were involved.

Her second choice, however, was non-negotiable. If she could take that information back to Panzer, even those not experienced with the armed forces could have a chance to step up and help resist against the Chaotic influence that poisoned their binary star.

Seminar Selection:

Crystalline eyes focused intently on Sailor Mars as the raven-haired young-looking woman gave her address. The information about communicators didn't rouse anything particular for the humanoid rock. Sailor Xtal-Diamante knew that this was a good thing that would help the warm improve, but communication was still a weak spot for her. Perhaps that would improve with time. At the moment, she still sometimes struggled to mimic the speech that seemed so easy for the others she interacted with on these missions to safeguard the universe.

Although she did, of course, appreciate the note about amplification and transmission crystal resonance. That concept, at least, she understood quite well.

It was time for panels now. The blank-faced girl cocked her head to the side as she collected the reverberations of the others within her core, listening to the chatter about who would attend which of the given topics. To be quite frank, all sounded about equal to her. She planned to attend whichever were most convenient. The route towards Room C didn't seem too long...

Seminar Selection:

Sailor Andromeda's arrival further soothed the fluttering nerves of the child. Nocturnus kept her attention raptly focused on Sailor Mars as the guardian of fire spoke to the assembled crowd. She would not be accused of daydreaming or treating this event as insignificant—not when surrounded by so many more experienced sailor soldiers that she was unacquainted with. The girl with dark hair, skin, and attire stayed nearly as still as a statue as she listened, trying to soak up as much information as possible. There would be more battles to come. She wanted to be prepared.

In her heart, she knew that actually feeling "prepared" wasn't possible... but she would do her best.

Now that it was time to choose which panels to attend, Sailor Nocturnus struggled with committing to one or another. They all sounded interesting and they all would share knowledge and information that she sorely needed.

"Which are you interested in, Andromeda?" the young one asked, her dark eyes trying to conceal her own doubts. "It might be good for me to learn how to use my powers more quickly... or how to organize a team? Not 'cause I'll be leading... but maybe to better support in a group?"

Seminar Selection:

Eager as she was to catch up with everyone, when the person in charge started to speak, Crysdal straightened and paid attention, soaking in information as well as she could. She was here as a representative of Queen Zhi and the Tapestry Sector on top of her entire planet and family; that kind of responsibility - and the optics surrounding it - was a position she was all too familiar with; the discomfort of the possibility of being singled out or quizzed on some random piece of information later was almost comfortable now; the last minute instructions and crucial pieces of information casually handed out within the last two months had just added to her "get a lot out of a little" abilities. As Mars finished speaking, she reflected on what she heard, a uneasiness turning her stomach. She hadn't heard of communications being intercepted; they had been running off of the same communicator Jin had given them originally - Jin had even let her keep it, it was in one of her pockets now, something she was abruptly reminded of with Mars's references. Her eyes twitched to the back of Sailor Mu's head, wondering if she should turn it in - wondering if they could they be listening right now. 

Technology had never been a strong suit of hers. She faked understanding it - which wasn't terribly hard? Press this button, something happens; press another, something else happens. Pay attention, and just a few button presses later, tadaa, you're an expert! But actually understanding what was going on behind the buttons was completely over her head. The only thing she remembered from that one time someone tried to explain how they worked was that they used light? Just not light they could see. ... She still wondered what they meant by that. In any case, she felt she should double check to make sure she wasn't carrying contraband around and ruining everything for everyone. 

The communicator issue solved for the minute, she glanced up at the schedule as everyone else spoke; the whole bit about "system wide defenses" seemed interesting, but it was tagged "technology" and she felt like that would be completely lost on her. Any of the "technology" tagged things would probably be lost on her. She nodded in agreement with Elysande, though - splitting up would be best and in the spirit of this meeting; if everyone went to the same thing they'd miss out on something and wouldn't be able to return with as much as they could have returned with. She considered the first timeslot, but honestly there was only one option for her: "Motivating Teams Effectively". Her "cast time" was blowing a kiss and that couldn't exactly be sped up, technology was a no-go. Honestly she was interested in what Sailor Perun had to present. 

Seeing Sam's name up there made her beam; however... listening in, so many of them were going to that and it was run by Sam and Sailor Mu, so she figured she'd need to go somewhere else. Technology, though... or team organization? ... 

And unfamiliar voice from nearby startled her and, as politely as she could, she leaned around Sam to spy the speaker, the pale young woman looking... just a little off? But not in a way she could put her finger on. Crysdal offered a smile, one that widened when she heard reference to helping wounded people. Another healer! 

Ari spoke up about going to the dreaded technology meetings, which eased Crysdal's worries that she could be stuck with it and just... try to take notes or something. She nodded appreciatively, listening on as Hadley shared her choices, and politely turning away as the two of them turned their attention to each other. Standing, she stretched her hands above her head with a satisfying pop from either shoulder before glancing to either side at Sam and Elysande and Panzer and stating, "I'll go to the Leadership ones for the first two times then to spread us out! Any plans for the third and fourth?"

1&2:

"In the flesh," she said relaxing when he finally recognized her. Realistically two months wasn't a long time, but with the war they have been fighting? It felt like a life time. It also didn't help that her fuku had drastically changed. She now resembled a fairy or a ballerina more than she did a senshi. It had worked in her favour a few times, her enemies drastically underestimating her, thinking her to be weak and dainty. 

Whatever worked. 

There was so much she wanted to apologize for, how much she had failed them all on their last mission by loosing control of her powers so badly like that. She felt ashamed anytime she thought of that period. Amina had always thought herself better than that and the loss of control, especially after she fought so hard during her teens and early 20s to control her powers before they killed her, stung like nothing else. 

"How have you been?"

In answer to her question, Achelois simply showed something beneath her cloak. Andromeda’s eyes widened as she recognized the dark hair sprouting from the small head hidden within. She’d brought the baby to the senshi meeting? How did she even get her past… Then again, maybe if you single-handedly brought about a thousand dead soldiers back to life, you get certain perks. Andromeda resisted the urge to pet Liera’s head and draw people’s attention to her.

She listened to the rest of the speech and eyed the choices they were presented with. Nocturnus’ choices sat well with her; she didn’t really understand technology given how Andromeda was still behind in terms of its development, and so it wouldn’t be particularly useful to her and her people either, and as for motivating teams… while she had led the mission when Enya and Achelois were gone, she didn’t feel motivation would be her strongest suit. Ironically enough, she felt she’d be more like Enya in regards of what type of leader she might be, except maybe not as brusque. She just couldn’t imagine herself trying to be perky and telling everyone everything was going to be alright when everyone knew that was not true.

Now the tactical aspect she was more interested in, so the second choice made sense as well. “I think those are good choices,” she nodded at Nocturnus. “And who knows, one of these days, you might end up leading a team, too,” she added with a smile. After all, she was growing up.

“As for the rest…” she tilted her head. For the third slot, the first one seemed interesting, but it was also classified as technology. “We seem to be needing to do it a lot with these missions, so I think I’ll go to the Regaining Enemy Stronghold one. And since I don’t have much in the way of defense or healing, I’ll pick the leadership one for the last.”

Room Selections:

Shadow lowered his voice just enough to avoid crowding out the other conversations taking place around them, but otherwise looked comfortable with bringing Sailor Soul up to speed on his recent adventures.

"I've managed to stay busy. When we escaped from the trap meant for the senshi of the Silver Crystal sector, a number of our allies found their homeworlds being attacked by some kind of invasive Chaos seed." He paused briefly to allow Amina an opportunity to digest that information, then continued his explanation.

"One of them was Leviathan's planet. Its core sustained terrible damage, and even now Rita's people are still rebuilding." Rita was the assumed human name that the quirky Sailor Leviathan had utilized when stirring up gossip on Earth, and even though that wasn't her true name, it was still part of her identity.

"If that wasn't bad enough, we almost lost Sailor Leviathan to the emergency operation on Sagittarius Zero Star. I escorted her home, then got into a habit of doing volunteer work." Shadow then took a moment to shake his head, reflecting upon how relieved he had been at the end of that particular day. Other unpleasant things had occurred, but that wasn't an important point to raise. Leviathan had been saved, and her people needed assistance with restoration.

She inspected the schedule as her sister made her first choice, considering. While her preference was to fight physically, she couldn’t deny that she was a magic user and that when things became dire she needed to use her magic together with her sister. If Nyx could cast faster than she could, they might not be in sync when they needed it the most. “Alright, your pick sounds good,” she agreed.

“Ooh, Sailor Chalybs is presenting for the second slot. I think her topic is good, too, we should learn it for the benefit of our citizens. And, you know, Maintaining Team Morale would have been super useful for our first mission… and maybe… survival skills and defense?” As of right now she had zero way to defend herself, but survival skills seemed important, not only because she’d died and all, but in planets like Destore, and even the strange environment of Cipriere, it would have been nice to know things like not using that mud.

She then bounded toward the group from their first mission, eager to catch up. “Good day, everyone! It’s so good to see you all again in the flesh!” she stated cheerfully, waving at the group containing SAM, Bastet, and Valdis to name a few. “How about a group hug?” she beamed. She would have just pounced on them already, but she had learned that sometimes not everyone likes to be hugged. Yes, that sounded like crazy talk to her, but it is what it is.

Selections:

She watched as Mars took her place at the podium and began to speak, projecting the air of confidence and commanding presence effortlessly, befitting of a true war general. She found it hard to concentrate on Mars’ words as she was overwhelmed with pride for the woman who had always been her anchor and her rock, the strongest person she knew, the one who now bore a chink in her armor because of her. Despite her death, she heard that Mars had continued her efforts to battle Chaos without relenting, and it had only served to motivate her further, even without knowing that Venus would return soon. Had it been Uranus or Neptune who had been lost, she knew the other would not have been able to function as well and would soon succumb to the temptation to follow their partner. But she and Mars… they had vowed that the Queen must always come first, and that gave her comfort. That whatever happened between them, they would never jeopardize the mission.

As Mars closed her speech with the word that she stood for, Venus smiled, then followed her out to the other room. Truly, there was no other person she would feel better about standing with.

Selections:

The blonde looked on as the two people closest to her besides the one attached to her chest right now decided how they wanted to better themselves.  The figure beneath her cloak began to wiggle as the young Enya began to wake up.  Most likely she would be hungry, which was good timing considering everyone was about to leave to go to their groups.  A tan, slender hand ran over the baby's back through the cloth as Achelois sent calming energy through her fingertips.  

Though she desired to stay with the girls, she knew they would need to go without her, to continue fighting in this war until it was well and truly won, by either side.  Maybe after everything was over they could have a nice long visit that was relaxing and involved only the playful-est of fighting.

Achelois rose from her place and stretched her back before looking to Nocturnus and Andromeda.  "Little one here will be hungry in a few moments and I'd like to not have to pay for any broken items, I'll take care of her while you guys are in your sessions."  Though she smiled at them, the grin on her face was a little off.  She had to admit, it was a little bittersweet to be raising someone who once, and still does, owned her whole heart.

Mom Achelois:

Mixed eyes looked on as the others responded to her earlier question.  It seemed as though the classes- er sessions, whatever they were called, were going to be uneven.  Maybe she should change her mind and go to one of the others instead of the magic one.  She didn't actually need her magic to be quicker, she needed to be able to use it more often and she need it to be stronger.  She also needed to figure what else she could do besides throw fireballs at people and cover her hands and feet with it.  Her black hair moved back and forth as she shook her head, this train of thought wasn't helping her right now.

Maybe when they say technology on the description, it means getting better at the devices in general, not that she needs to be a senshi with powers based on it?  It would certainly be interesting, and anything she learned here, she may be able to take back to her own planet and use it to free her family. 
Interesting...

Movement near her, brought the young teenager back to the reality in front of her.  She mentally smacked herself, she knew she tended to get lost in her own thoughts.

"Sounds good, I'll go to the small scale barrier class to help spread us out as well."

Classes Update:

Taking another look at the board, Bellatrix began to plan out what she should do for the second half of the seminars. For these ones, she found it a little easier to decide which ones she would prefer to attend.

She didn't care to learn much about morale boosting, and the finer details of her enemies didn't concern her. Learning how to regain strongholds, on the other hand, sounded interesting. The fact that it was lead by Sailor Mars made her even more inclined to go to that particular seminar.

As for the fourth timeslot, she had no healing abilities and directing a group had no interest. Which left survival skills and defense maneuvers. It seemed to her that those kinds of things would mesh well with her skill set, and learning all that she could about them would only further her efficiency.

Mind made up, Bellatrix glanced around the filled room. A part of her wondered if she should try to join in on a conversation. Making acquaintances with her comrades seemed about as important as learning new information.

Ultimately, she decided against it. It seemed that most of the conversations going on around her were underway with not much room for a random stranger to butt their way in. Plus, if she were being completely honest with herself, starting up a conversation with people she didn't really know still gave her a twinge of anxiety her meditation techniques couldn't quite diminish.

Timeslot Update:

SAM technically knew that Tartarus was there, but her sudden speech startled her for a second. 

"Oh, sorry for not introducing you!" she said, before turning to the rest of the small group. "This is Sailor Tartarus. One of the scouts from my planet ran into her near the galaxy edge, and I sent her instructions to join us here if she wanted to." She figured that it'd be wrong to not give a fellow senshi access to their information, especially if Chaos could be on the lookout for defenseless planets. Thinking about defenseless planets, she was happy to hear that multiple people were interested in the panel she was a part of, though it was making her a little nervous. 

"It's good to see you to," SAM said to Hemera, though the hugging idea was setting off alarm bells. She took a careful step back. "Er, I'll pass on that for now... No offense." She knew it wouldn't kill her, but she still wasn't quite used to just anyone grabbing her.

Room Choices:

Ari nodded cheerfully in response to Hadley's worry. Of course they felt the same way, which comforted her and caused her more anxiety at the same time, but she had to smile for her. That was always important. Besides, what could go wrong? They were among so many strong and powerful allies, any force of chaos would be foolish to attempt an attack on them.

"We'll meet up right after the last one and eat dinner, with everyone," Ari gave Haley her best confident smile she could, "Those two panels suit you, I think. Promise to take good notes so we can go over them tonight?"

Crysdal's question reminded her that there were still other ones to choose. This was just about as bad as choosing lectures to attend back in school, though the sense of familiarity with this and her studies was a nice comfort of home. Now which ones to choose?  She had already picked two out of the technology category so it wouldn't be a bad idea to add variety to the list. For slot three, it was clear to her that Maintaining Team Morale was out. While she could manage to keep her spirits up for Hadley, there was no way she could manage an entire team. She was just not suited for leadership however...Techniques for Regaining Enemy Strongholds sounded promising, if a bit ironic considering their first mission. Despite what she and Hadley had learned in the past two months, learning from one of the Sailor Guardians of the Silver Sector would be an opportunity she wouldn't want to miss, especially after hearing Sailor Mars herself speak to the group.

Moving to slot 4's panels, it was obvious Practicial Application of Healing Abilities was out. Even though Ari had talked herself out of the other leadership panel, she began to reconsider it for Directing Group Decisions.  Recalling their first mission, there had been times where she wished she could have voiced her opinion better. She was always so unsure of how keep up whenever decisions were being discussed.  On the other hand, survival skills and defense was something she had knowledge of from her druid studies, though as she had learned in her travels around the galaxy, she was woefully unprepared for some climates.

A bright and cheery voice disrupted her thoughts and Ari's face lit up when she realized who it was, Hemera with Nyx not far behind her! Ari jumped up out of her seat in excitement, nearly falling over the poor new girl, who SAM had introduced as Sailor Tartarus. A group hug sounded great but then Ari found herself just standing there awkwardly, face turning hot.

"I um...wouldn't mind."

While the initial guilt of Hemera's death had passed, Ari still never quite forgave herself for the events that led up to it. She had spent many nights dwelling and praying to the gods of Bastet, hoping to find some solace in her emotions. They had been so busy since the rebirth, she had never been able to talk to Hemera to at least apologize. If only she had been strong enough, however with her experience and now these panels with the senior guardians, she hoped she would be.

Selection:

Hadley smiled in response to Ari's reassurances and then nodded. "I'll do my best," she promised before turning her attention towards figuring out the second half of her panel choices.

Going through the third timeslot, one called out to her above the others, even though all of them seemed incredibly useful. Maintaining Team Morale. She was a little nervous about the "leadership" tag that was written beneath it, but the idea of learning how to keep up morale for both herself and for others was very appealing.

Perhaps what she'd learn in such a panel would help her feel stronger when things got tough, and perhaps even be able to share that same strength. It was what she hoped, at least.

As for the last timeslot, she didn't have any healing abilities so that only left two possible options. Hadley wished she could take both of them but she found herself drawn towards the direction of group decisions a bit more than the other. She knew she needed help with both skills, however, she hoped that perhaps learning how to direct others' decision making would, in turn, help her make her own decisions a little better.

There had been many times during the conscription that she had felt as though she didn't know the best course of action, and that sometimes their entire group wavered on too many options. Maybe it would help, to learn how to make and direct decisions a little better.

But on the other hand... learning better survival skills would be good too. She had nearly poisoned herself to death and been covered in those slimy black mud-dwellers as they leeched upon her. Hadley shivered at the memory.

Her thoughts were broken at the bubbly entrance of... Hemera? Hadley stared openly at the other girl. The sheer brightness of her was comforting in and of itself, but all Hadley could think of was the last time she'd seen Hemera, before...

The new arrival brought back the inital emotions Hadley had been fighting to put aside. Seeing Alshain again had been one thing. Hadley had run into Crysdal and Alshain during these past two months and had ample time to process it. But this was altogether different.

Hadley attempted to push those thoughts aside. Despite everything that happened, despite the heartbreak of it all, Hemera was here. She was whole and she was alive.

And Hemera seemed so happy that it was infectious. Hadley couldn't help but to smile.

Timeslot Update:

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, a bright and cheerful voice rang out from behind and Crysdal turned, beaming at Hemera and Nyx behind her; she almost laughed at Hemera's "in the flesh" comment, but she swallowed it instead, her shoulders jerking as breath escaped her nose, deciding it may be too soon for most people to laugh at the reference (if she had meant it as a reference), but she eyed the other blond mischievously. She liked Hemera, and really enjoyed how she took the whole death thing in stride. And hugs. Anyone who offered hugs was top notch in Crysdal's book - out and around, she hadn't really found too many peoples who enjoyed physical contact the way hers did, so she eagerly nodded but waited for others to say whether they wanted in before she launched herself over chairs or anything, in the meantime noting Alshain's change in plans and Sam's introduction of the other senshi.

Ari wanted in? Three's a good group hug start~ 

Grinning, she readjusted her gaze, eyed the chair she'd have to step over to wrangle both Hemera and Ari into a hug, and went for it, stepping one one seat cushion with her big pink boot as she adroitly hopped over the chair back and reached for both Ari and Hemera with her arms open wide.

Leviathan. While she and Soul had never gotten along, Soul having to almost drag her at some points to complete the mission, she felt deeply for the other senshi. 

"I'm sorry to hear that, though as long as they are rebuilding, there is hope," she offered with a tiny smile. Sometimes this war made her glad her planet was effectively dead, nothing but a shell of its former glory; its people and flora and fauna destroyed at the end of the Silver Millennium by Sailor Saturn. There were planets though in this war that she had been unable to save, giant husks remained in a silent reminder of her failure. She knew she would be seeing that in her nightmares for years to come. 

"What panels are you going to?" she asked, trying to force her thoughts to something substantially less depressing. Practical Application of Healing Abilities caught her eye. It would be useful to learn how to better use her healing abilities. 

Final Panel Choices:

Shadow directed an eye towards the overhead display then casually shrugged his shoulders at Sailor Soul's question. Part of the joke was to act like he was making a decision on the spot. Of course, it wouldn't fool Amina; her abilities as an empath and her familiarity with his thought process would expose the charade. However, they could indulge in some light hearted behavior for the present moment.

"I'm going for leadership, but I'm stuck on the third timeslot. All of those topics are interesting, but there's only one of me to go around." Shadow's description of the third was candid and frank, lacking any hint of underlying sarcasm. Maintaining morale within a team was important, but there were at least a few senshi who were (or at least looked to be) more approachable than Endymion's knight-errant. Reclaiming strongholds was valuable information, regardless of its source. Finally, if there was a method for Shadow to apply gathered statistics through his own attention to details, then that could expose flaws in an enemy's defense which he was all too happy to exploit.

Luckily, Jasper wasn't without friends in this meeting. If they were all on cordial terms, it was possible that each of them could share knowledge amongst one another. He gestured towards Bellatrix, whom a close observer could recognize by the fact that she was taller than many of the attending senshi - Shadow included.

"Sailor Bellatrix might be willing to share what she learns with us. Let's pay her a visit."

Complete Panel choices for Shadow:

SAM had positioned herself at one of the larger tables, the plate of foreign food in front of her only pushed around by her fork as she thought about the last 4 sessions she'd attended. In an attempt to try and make others more at ease in her own session, SAM had allowed her armor to disappear, wearing nothing by her senshi uniform. It was still taking some getting used to outside of her own planet, but she had learned to adjust after it had broken on that last mission to secure the Tapestry Crystal. That session she had shared with Sailor Bastet for Survival Skills and Improved Defensive Maneuvers had been interesting without her air filter though...

She kept the armor off even now, but her visor was still over her eyes, running through sets of calculations. Her scanning capabilities felt like they'd improved, but it was really the ideas from the System-Wide Defense Fields session that had lingered with her over the day. Would it be possible for her to construct a castle to orbit Chalybs? The entire process sounded complicated and raised other connected questions, like what a Crystal Guardian was (wasn't Ferrum a guardian of sorts?) or if she was even strong enough to have one, but the thought of it still appealed to her. Maybe she could send a message back to Chalybs to start looking for resonating crystals. The physical castle part sounded possible at least, and it'd give her an off planet base to work with. SAM continued mumbling to herself as she worked out the raw numbers for how much material would need to be gathered.

The hug between her, Crysdal and Hemera had almost opened the flood gates, but she held her tears, instead enjoying it and not ruining the moment. The warmth had did wonders to ease some of her worries and soon the bell rang signaling the first panel. Reluctantly she left the her friends and Hadley but looked forward to what she would learn.

Later that evening


Ari sighed heavily as she collapsed into a fluffy chair that sat in the hall near the spot where she and Hadley had agreed to meet before heading in for dinner. She was exhausted from the bombardment of knowledge but it had been a good day. It felt much like a normal school day followed by one of her infamous 4 hours library study sessions. Ari fingered through a small note book she had managed to grab from a hotel staffer, reviewing what she had learned throughout the day.

The first panel had been a whirlwind of information. Sailor Mercury had been a brilliant lecturer and despite the limited time was able to get through the vast amount of information and helped explain to some of them. Ari was glad that SAM had been there with her. It helped ease into meeting the others in the room. Sailor Bellatrix had been one of those and she had been hard to not notice, with her being so tall, though just about everyone except Hadley was taller than Ari. It turned out she would share all the panels of the day with Bellatrix.

What had amazed her the most was just how much her powers and transformation could grow. She wondered what it would be like to meet her Crystal Guardian. Skimming through her notes, the other fascinating piece of knowledge was the fact that she could have her own castle. Absently she imagined something like the temples of Bastet but flowing in space around the planet. What would the government think of that?

While the second panel of the day had not quite been what she expected, she found it fascinating regardless. She flipped to the second panels notes, recalling their practice with the Energy Barrier Ball. She wished they had had something like this back in their previous missions. However, she did not like that anyone could use it. She frowned while fingering the ball that was in a hidden pocket in her skirt, making a mental note to be careful of its use.

The other panels had proved just as informative, Ari feeling more at home with the survival skills. A lot of members of their original team had been there, though for some reason by the end of the panel SAM seemed to be sneezing and sniffling more. Ari hoped she wasn't getting sick.

Giving her eyes a break, Ari rested her head on the back of the chair. Her stomach grumbled. Just where was Hadley?

Nyx nodded along with the rest of her sister's choices. She continued reviewing the schedule as the others went for the "group hug" - she had become more acquainted to them, but perhaps not that much. She opted for a smile and a nod instead.

So, barriers and healing were definitely out of the way, not her thing. She did not particularly care for any leadership classes either - she decided that she had to do her part in this war too, but she was no leader and she had no interest in becoming one. If things got so dire that she would have to be the one to step up, she figured improvisation would be more critical than anything they were told here. Well, might as well attend the first one and see how that goes.

Their first period ended, and Nyx was satisfied. This was useful. Casting by channeling and controlling their emotions, and even without even yelling their attack name? Now that was useful skills. They should dedicate an entire day to it, honestly. But it was already time for the next session. Helping civilians help themselves...?

Well. Perhaps she could skip this one. And the next time she argued with Hemera about who gets to stay behind at Dies Nox, she could use that to her advantage. If her sister was the one with valuable knowledge to assist their people, it would only be logical that she stays, right?

That was perfect. And okay, perhaps just a tad sly. But if it was for her sister's (relative) safety, she'd just have to live with it. Pretending to be tired from the session, she excused herself, and decided to find a secluded area and practice by herself for just a little longer.

Which ended up being a little longer than she wanted. The third session had already started when she got back, and she had no intention of walking into a class already started like your average delinquent. She'd just have to catch the next one.

Ultimately, she got to hang around with another senshi who had probably missed the session too. Nyx was not all that much for social interactions, but even for her, it was better than just standing by herself for hours until the next one. And who knows, perhaps getting to know someone else better. their personality, strengths, weaknesses and all that... It might end up being just as useful as those sessions in their next battle. But unfortunately, they lost track of time and ended up missing the final session too.

As the last one ended, she spotted her sister and went up to her. "I hope you took notes and didn't fall asleep!" she teased. "Should we go find the others? We didn't really have much time to catch up before, right?" She hoped her sister would not find her unusual social behavior suspicious. Truthfully, she just didn't really remember what the session options were and she hoped she wouldn't ask

Tartarus observed the call for a group hug, raising a hand to her mouth as her ordinarily faint smile began to spread at the antics of Hemera. She seemed to be quite energetic, having sought out her friends for a group hug. They must have been reuniting after some kind of operation! Tartarus recomposed herself, keeping the laughter that escaped from her synthetic lips limited to a dignified giggle.

During the first presentation, the android eagerly observed the presentation by the elegant duo of Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus. While her nanites were a primary vector in the application of medical treatment, it was her own power which infused the microscopic machines to heal injuries at an expedited rate. Tartaran medicine and technology would permit someone to recover within hours, but their guardian senshi could effect rejuvenation in milliseconds.

The second panel also presented valuable information, yet it hit an uncomfortable subtopic. Tartarus could do little but nod in agreement at the cautionary note for approaching or engaging worlds that held multiple political factions. She was unable to hide her sad expression, but managed to hold back her synthetic tears. There were other people who needed her assistance, and she was among others who shared that same outlook.

Through some happy accident, Tartarus stumbled across Sailor Nyx and inadvertently struck up a conversation. She had spied the senshi in midnight blue from their first shared class, talking and listening to Nyx in equal measure about the concepts of quickening their mystical powers. Reasoning that her full senshi title was a mouthful, Sailor Tartarus formally introduced herself to her new friend as Dorothea and revealed that her powers revolved around energy. Thus far, Dorothea had discovered the ability to restore the integrity of an individual's physical body or their fighting spirit. It had not come up as often, but she could also create a shroud of ablating plasma to defeat hostile energy attacks.

It wasn't until the conclusion of the fourth period that Dorothea had a mild panic, realizing that she missed opportunities to join the statistics and practical healing panels. It wasn't like that time was wasted, however; Nyx appeared genuinely interested in practicing her powers to the point of fatigue. And if she was receptive to the idea, Dorothea would have an opportunity to test what would happen when she channeled her own energies to rekindle those of a fellow senshi guardian.

The dinner hall was utilized as an opportunity to further chat with associates that shared Dorothea's interests; her appetite for socializing had been bolstered by hanging out with Nyx. As for the food itself, Tartarus was by all appearances a light eater. She stuck to soups and some light salads, each with modest portioning.

She searched for familiar faces in the ballroom-now-cafeteria, approaching those she had spoken to this morning when she a familiar visor—Sailor Chalybs. Panzer approached steadily, giving a slight wave. They shared a panel together, the one about civilians, and Sailor Panzer was still mulling over the possibilities for practical application of that knowledge in her home system. Hopefully she'd have an opportunity to implement something, although with the way this war was going, whether such an opportunity would present itself was anyone's guess.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" she asked, gesturing to an open chair.

"Anything particularly interesting from your sessions?" she asked, curious to see if there would be a chance to trade information.

Sailor Xtal-Diamante stared at the food on the plate before her, having taken the most immediately available seat in the ballroom. The table she sat at was basically empty at this point, as most of the assembled sailor soldiers tended to seek out companions, whether from panel sessions or previous relationships. When she took an experimental bite, she once again found herself wondering exactly why these soft creatures "ate". It was not a wholly enjoyable process, although perhaps it was interesting. As she took a moment to scan the room, Xtal-Diamante noted that the attitudes towards this "dinner" varied greatly. Some shoveled it into their mouths with gusto, while others appeared to be only moving it around on the surface of the plate.

Perhaps there was some value to be had in doing such a thing? The blank-faced young woman made an attempt to copy the actions she observed, pushing the items to different areas with the provided utensils, but it registered nothing. How... odd.

She was glad for Sailor Andromeda's presence, especially when Achelois stepped away. Nocturnus felt again that keen sense of separation. They would never return to the way things were when Achelois and Enyalius fought side-by-side and protected and encouraged herself and Andromeda. Those memories that she had, although tinted with the stress of battle and hardship, remained extremely precious to her. She was happy that Enyalius was alive, of course, and she desperately hoped that one day the four of them would be reunited, but the deal that had been struck with the Crone was one that changed everything.

The young girl managed to push those thoughts aside to attend the seminars, but now there was so much additional information swirling in her head alongside those initial thoughts that she almost had a headache. She sought the familiar teal uniform and hair of Sailor Andromeda in the ballroom, hoping they'd be able to sit together for dinner. The dark eyes scanned for another as well, wondering if the cloaked figure would have returned by now.

The panels went by in a rush of activity and learning. Hadley was thankful she had been keeping diligent notes to share with Ari. It would be good to go over all of the information again to make sure she didn't accidentally forget any of it due to the constant flow of new information.

Hadley's favorite had been the very first panel she'd attended. She found it fascinating to think that the overwhelming emotions she felt during her missions could actually be used to power her attacks. That she could harness those feelings into something useful and potentially effective to help the mission.

She felt as though she would be able to make a lot of use of that, as long as she did it correctly. Hadley had made sure to write down a lot of notes covering the topic.

The other panels had all be interesting and given her a different perspective on things, which pleased her as that was why she had chosen them in the first place.

The motivation one had been especially handy as well. She hoped to use those lessons when the time came, as well as to use them when her own dark feelings started to become too much again.

As for her last panel, Hadley had felt a bit out of place considering the big emphasis on becoming the leader of a group. She had no true desire to do so, but she wanted to take all of those tactics and information and use them to help herself become more assertive. Not so much to guide others to what she felt was right, but to simply use those methods to get her thoughts out at all.

After the announcement was made that dinner was served, Hadley let out a tired and relieved sigh. It had been a very long time since she'd last had to sit at lessons for so long. Her lessons with her grandmother didn't last nearly as long as these ones had.

Excitement to see Ari again prickled past her exhaustion, and Hadley found her way down towards the meeting place that she and Ari had agreed upon. Spotting the familiar hair that reminded her of flowers, Hadley rushed over to the other girl.

"Ari!" It felt as though it had been months since she'd seen her last, though Hadley knew it was silly to think so. But the pang of being apart dissipated the instant she saw the familiar face she adored so much. "Are you hungry?" she continued, smiling.

As soon as the seminars finished, Bellatrix found herself an empty seat within the cafeteria to collapse upon. It wasn't so much the learning that took its toll on her, it was being surrounded by many people she didn't know.

Her seminars had been informative and interesting, at least. And she had been able to make acquaintances with several of the other attending senshi, which was a good thing, she felt. Regardless of how much such interactions exhausted her.

It had been amusing to find that there was one other senshi who had chosen all of the same classes as herself. Ari was so tiny though, and young. It always felt extra sorrowful whenever Bellatrix had to run into those senshi who were barely old enough to know how to care for themselves, let alone to save entire worlds.

Bellatrix leaned back in her chair and let out a small sigh, glancing around the room as she took stock of the situation. It was a habit she wasn't certain she'd ever be able to shake after all of the fighting and missions.

She was looking in particular for Shadow. Before the seminars begun, he had approached her with a proposal to share the information they'd learn with one another. She agreed to it, of course. The more information shared, the better.

The conversation had been short before ending as the bell rang to signify the beginning of the seminars. Bellatrix had been thankful for that. She hadn't been prepared to speak to Shadow just yet, despite the fact that it was something she had meant to do for a while now. It was hard to know what to say, though, to someone that she'd left behind on a mission.

Everything worked out in the end, but she still hadn't quite forgiven herself for it all. Bellatrix wished she knew how to move past that and to speak to Shadow without this unerring sense of guilt and remorse.

She hoped that this calm setting of simply learning and sharing would be a good way to do just that.

While her blonde hair had remained mostly tucked into her cloak, the hood now rested on her shoulders and the top part of the cloak now fell open.  The tiny child now was now held to Achelois' chest, the cloak still covering most of her small body, but she was now awake and her eyes eagerly moved around as she took in the bright colors and blurry shapes.  Achelois had briefly talked with some senshi and she now felt a little more at ease.  She had poked her head into the different sessions and was pleased with the skills that were being taught.  

She sat at a small table and was maneuvering Enya, Leira she said out loud, but Enya she still called her in her mind, when she looked up and caught the eye of a small senshi that she favored dearly.  She grinned and nodded to the table, opening an invitation to Nocturnus to sit with her.  



Blue and yellow eyes stared down at the ground as Alshain worked to digest the day's lessons.  Her feet followed the others towards the room as she went through maneuvers in her head that would allow her to use the small energy ball.  She greatly appreciated that they had allowed her and the others to actually keep one, though she did wonder why it wasn't a mandatory class for everyone.  Maybe they simply didn't have enough or thought that a displayed interest was a requirement for the tech.  She had also gained a bit more of understanding than she had before about technology and was pleased with herself about this.  Her thoughts roamed over the other classes that were helpful as well, she was eager to keep practicing the skills, the movements, and her powers, however a growling sound reminded her that keeping her body in top form and health was just as important.  She quickly glanced around after retrieving a balanced (she hoped, it was a little difficult to tell with foreign food) meal but didn't see Aegle right away.  She did see Sailor Chalybs, SAM, she still wasn't sure what to call her and the newly introduced Sailor Panzer from this morning, sitting at a table.  She figured this would be a good time as any to learn more about them and the sessions they went to.  

A small but strong body clad in navy blue and bright yellow, made its way over to the two before taking a seat next Panzer.  She heard the tale end of Panzer's question that attempted to break through the strong thought processes SAM appeared to be entranced in.  

"Looks like it was incredibly interesting for her, what about you?" Alshain somewhat answered for Sam before directing the question back to Panzer.

Nocturnus felt a release of tension when she spotted the familiar blonde hair and brilliant verdant markings that identified Achelois. The small star-shaped golden charms on her uniform jingled slightly as she hustled over, wanting to be back in the orbit of people she knew and cared about as soon as possible. The war had made it easier not to think about the war that raged at her own home (although sometimes, late at night, she worried that they were one and the same—that Sarastro and his forces were actually a Chaotic entity similar to those she was now extremely familiar with...), but focusing on it too much was overwhelming. Sailor Nocturnus sought sources of comfort wherever she could, mostly frequently in the company of others.

"How are you?" she asked, again with the intended plural. The dark eyes stared down at the baby, now awake and observant. She still wasn't always sure how to interact with her; there was a pretty strong difference between most children and this one, who used to be someone she relied on so strongly for guidance and protection.