1639/Conservation of Puella

Conservation of Puella
Date of Scene:	12 June 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Kyouko and Momo, after the fight with Riventon and Elsa Maria, head to Mamoru's apartment for healing that won't eat their souls and therefore their dwindling supply of grief seeds. Mamoru isn't there. Kunzite is, and about thirty seconds later, so is Daisuke...
Cast of Characters:	Kyouko Sakura, Momo Sakura, Kunzite, Daisuke Hansuke

---

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Sometime on the evening of the 12th, there is a sudden *thump* from outside on the balcony of the Earth Court Frat House. This is followed quickly by the door opening, and Kyouko stumbling through it. She's in henshin, and currently bleeding profusely from a rather heavy wound on her side- a sizable slice through her just below the ribs that has cut through both clothing and flesh. It doesn't look life-threatening, especially to a Puella, but it's certainly not minor either.

    She's having a bit of trouble walking, because she came straight here instead of taking time to, you know, actually heal, and she stumbles slightly as she enters the room, one hand pressed to the wound. "C'mon.. it's not so bad." She says over her shoulder to someone who must be following her, before promptly colliding with an end-table and stumbling again, having to brace herself on the back of the couch to avoid falling over. "Dammit." Teeth are gritted.

    She glances around. "Anybody here? I, uh.. could use some of that healin' you guys were talking about the other day.."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo is more like a vibrating ball of annoyance than girl at the moment.

"Not so bad?! Dammit, Kyou-nee, you almost got knocked out by that pigeon back there! A pigeon! They're just rats with wings, and you almost got KOd!"

Her sister stumbles, and Momo risks her life to give her sister physical support.

And then, just in case, she adds her own voice to the mix.

She's a frantic imomotou and its not her ribs that have been injured.

"HEY IS ANYONE HERE WE'RE DOING WHAT YOU TOLD US TO HELLO HELLO HELLOOOOOO!"

Kunzite has posed:
Sunday night is a quiet one for Mamoru's place. Mamoru himself is sequestered, being watched over by Jadeite. Nephrite's couch is likewise unoccupied for the evening, since he can't be in arm's reach of Mamoru's designated evac for the time when Mamoru is, actually, in bed. There is no telling where Zoisite is, which is probably good since then nobody can be compelled to give sworn testimony.

If Kyouko had arrived half an hour earlier, therefore, she would've been met with a bizarre silence.

Instead: Thump. Door open. Irregular steps. And then Kunzite is out of the kitchen in three strides -- still in civilian clothes, but moving fast.

And coming to a halt at the voices, and with his phone out and the first text sent before he says anything at all. Deadpan: "We may have to rethink the carpeting. Or give your sister first aid lessons. Anything chasing you?"

Elsewhere, Daisuke's phone signals.

    Kazuo: Available? One injured. Chiba's apt.
    Kazuo: No visible evil flowers this time.

'Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Sunday evening isn't a busy evening for Daisuke. He'd done most everything he'd needed to do during the day. Well. That wasn't true. His MMO Clan totally need him because they were going to run the super secret hard dungeon. He was just waiting, sipping some sort of coffee drink waiting perhaps for people to enter the lobby- he was early- when his phone began beeping.

He takes it out and checks it, he reads it with earnst worry and types first into the keyboard before he logs- then down to his phone.

Daisuke: Yeah, I'm around. Coming.

Kunzite gets the text and in fact, not even seconds after there's a little purple flash overways on the balcony. He steps inside, closing the door behind him as he stares at the scene in the living room. He already has his staff out of course- transformed from it's ring form.

There's Momo right there. A girl bleeding out he doesn't know. And also, Kunzite.

He hurries over a moment and squats down a moment in front of Kyouko.

"Shit." he says. "That's bad.". Captain Obvious.

"What attacked?" he asks as he looks between the group. He stands back up as he grasps the staff a little tighter and thinks a moment-- shifting with a flash into his henshined state---

He's going to need the extra ommph for this one.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Christ, kid, take it down a notch." Kyouko winces as Momo starts shrieking right next to her. "I'm sure somebody's here, ya don't need to-" And then Kunzite is walking into the room, and she visibly relaxes, the stalwart presence of the elder Shitennou obviously reassuring her, even as she was busy insisting she was fine to Momo. Her shortness with her sister is more from her own pain and stress than it is because she's actually angry at the younger girl.

    "Nobody chasing." She says to Kunzite, as she shifts to lean against the couch, doing her best not to bleed on any fabric after his comment about the carpet, looking slightly chastised. "It was Riventon who done this." Just then Daisuke appears and comes into the room. She gives him a look, not knowing him, but as Kunzite seems not to react negatively, she removes her hand from the wound to let him examine it. It's definitely bad, but also not deadly- this is more about her saving her own magic than it is about needing emergency care, but in the long-run, the two are the same.

    One thing he'll probably notice is that the wound is covered with traces of Dark Energy.

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo grumbles! "I won't! You can't mak--Hiiiiii Notniisan-kunKunzite (talk)!"

Yeah, that was a mortifying one-eighty on her mood there...

As she's busy blushing and wishing to, you know, implode or get swallowed by the aforementions carpet, she's quiet!

Daisuke comes. Momo knows he's a healer, but she also remembers his initial reaction at being asked to save the plant guy.

'Discretely,' she shakes her fist at him, makes 'I'm watching you' gestures with her fingers and eyes, and is basically about as threatening as a koala on an eucalyptus high.

"Um, there was also a Puella named Elsa...somethingsomething."

She's helping!

Kunzite has posed:
Riventon. Kunzite's eyes narrow sharply, but what he actually says out loud is, "Thank you." That to the boy coming in from the balcony behind Kyouko and Mamo, nevermind that Dai wasn't on the balcony ten seconds ago when they stepped inside. "Kyouko, this is Asclepius, a healer. Asclepius, Kyouko and Momo Sakura; Kyouko is your patient. Mamoru isn't in condition to help at the moment; he's recovering from the last emergency."

He keeps clear of Daisuke and Kyouko, giving them room to work. That means stepping aside more toward Momo. "I haven't heard of a Puella named Elsa," he says to her, more quietly. If she uses ice, maybe someone can give an arcane power up to a cease-and-desist order. "Which side was she on?"

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Asclepius examines the wound with a little terse frown as he looks around. He can sense that twinge of dark energy. "There's a residual dark energy trace here." he says. He purses his lips and nods. "Right then." he smiles.

"I'm going to get to work then Kyouko. Just keep your hands down by your sides. Don't touch." he says as he holds the staff he's holding both hands- holding it horzontally out in front of him as he begins to channel his healing magic-- a purple aura around him-- then the staff--- then phasing off around Kyouko.

He closes his eyes as he concentrates and does his best to focus on the task at hand.

"I bet Mamoru is singlehandedly paying for some carpet seller's kids to go to a fine University at this rate." he insists.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko glances at Momo at the sudden change in her demeanor upon Kunzite's entrance. She might have to ask about that later.. but luckily (for Momo) she is distracted by Asclepius' investigation of her wound, which causes a slight hiss of pain, though she drops her hands as requested.

    To Kunzite, she explains, "This 'Elsa' chick was with Riventon. He said some things.. dunno, wasn't explicit, but based on his comments it seems like Kyubey is workin' with him. Riventon, I mean." She's actually unaware that Riventon is associated with Eclipse. "I dunno why but.. seems like they are tempting Puella to work for 'em by paying them in Grief Seeds.. which are hard to get any other way right now, as you're aware."

    She curls her lip as Daisuke notes the Dark Energy residue around the wound. "Dude was full of the stuff.. stabbed me with this big, black sword. Don't surprise me." The sword actually was pretty identical to the one which stabbed Usagi and caused all sorts of trouble not long ago, though as far as she knows it didn't leave any shards behind in Kyouko- it was a clean cut.

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo blows out her cheeks to her sister when she answers before she could. Rude!

...Ignore that she may have momentarily been floundering.

She does, however, turn her attention toward her sister and healer at the hiss of pain and relaxes when it seems part of the process.

She looks up at Kunzite with large, unsure eyes, almost hesitant to voice her thoughts. Not because she's shy (maybe a little) but because sometimes she's not sure she can trust her own eyes.

"She seemed weird. She didn't make much noise. She was kinda like..." She bites her lip and shifts from foot to foot before she turns to her sister. "Kyou-nee, was she like those marionettes that used to give me nightmares? Or was I just seeing things?"

She shrugs and looks back at Kunzite. "She just made me feel emotionally itchy."

Kunzite has posed:
The patch of carpet still missing where Fiore bled all over it suggests that Asclepius may have a point.

Kunzite's paying more immediate attention to the story Kyouko's telling. The line of his mouth hardens. "When I saw him two days ago, he'd gotten his hands on the sword that drove Miss White mad for a while." Madder than usual, at least. "Asclepius, when she hit Moon with that, it broke off a piece that poisoned her." Then again, if there were foreign objects in the wound, the healer would probably already know. But it doesn't hurt to make sure.

"One question is where Eclipse is getting the Grief Seeds, then. Possibly relevant -- when I encountered Riventon, I was tracking down an energy anomaly that looked like a possible labyrinth. It wasn't; just a youma, and Riventon was already killing it when I arrived. Still. If the same thing attracted both of us..."

He shakes his head, and turns his attention down to Momo. Riventon and a Puella. Riventon and a weird, quiet, puppetlike Puella?

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Asclepius is already healing Kyouko. Purple energy engulfs her. It feels kind of like a weird tinge as he gets to closing the wound-- the edges being to stich together inwards slowly. This will take a few moments, it isn't super fast--- large gashed deep wounds rarely are- but it's fast enough.

"I'm just sensing residual dark energy. Nothing generating. That should dissapate." he says to Kunzite. He purses his lips a bit as he listens to the discussion, weird, puppet-like puella puts a really ghastly image in his head. Ugh!

Better to concentrate on the um. Grisly open wound. Yeah. That's much better.

He opens his eyes and looks over to Momo. "Are you hurt, too?" he asks. She seems in less hurt that Kyouko at least.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko shrugs her shoulders at Momo, glancing across at her sister. "Yeah she.. didn't seem like she was all there in the head. Dunno if that was due to anythin' with Riventon though. I've known some Puella in my life who were like that.. or messed up in other ways. Coulda just been coincidence. She was definitely a bit off though, that's the truth."

    Kyouko quirks a brow at Kunzite. She hadn't had anything to do with that sword, with Miss White or Usagi, though she's heard the broad strokes of the story through the grapevine since. "That so?" She glances down at the wound being healed, curling her lip slightly. "Glad the bastard didn't actually get it into me any more than he did then." Not with her susceptibility to Dark Energy, which Kunzite is well-aware of even if the others in the room aren't.

    "Eclipse?" She narrows her eyes at Kunzite again. "Riventon is one of there, is he? Didn't know that." She knows about Eclipse, of course, she just hadn't known Riventon was a member. "My guess is they're gettin' 'em from Kyubey. Like I said, Riventon said somethin' which implied the white rat is workin' with them. The ones he really wants to kill off are me, Homura and Mami, after all.. wouldn't hurt his plans none to get other Puella to work against us by givin' them Seeds and keepin' them away from us. Dunno if Kyubey just has some he's handin' out, or if he's controlling the formation of Witches and leadin' them to 'em. We caught Riventon and this Elsa chick coming out of a Labyrinth after killing a Witch. He had the Seed, which is why we fought in the first place. Didn't manage to get it away from him, though."

    She glances down as the wound begins to heal. "Thanks," She tells Asclepius. "I coulda healed it myself with my magic, but with no Grief Seeds to replace the ones I used, I thought it was smarter to get healed here and save as much magic as I could." She glances over at Momo. "She's got a wound on her arm. Took a hit from that Elsa chick. Not as bad as mine, but maybe you could look at it?" Big sis insists, even if Momo would shrug it off!

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo shrugs. "I know Kyubey helped me find witches at first. Then he just sort of stopped, but I always figured it was because I knew what to look for. Maybe he's doing the same thing for them."

Eclipse. Isn't that some book title?

When asked if she's hurt, she blinks. Then Kyouko mentions her arm.

Oh yeah!

She looks down at it. "Oh. Look at that. I've been impaled."

Aaaand that's when she realizes it doesn't tickle. "Holy sweet mother of--" A few more strings of obscenities before she looks up at Asclepius.

"...It kind of hurts, yeah."

Kunzite has posed:
Kyouko's condition has highest priority; so Kunzite's nod to Daisuke's evaluation is sharp and quick, and he stays the way he is, not summoning up his powers to have a look at the dark energy himself.

"According to Mamoru, Riventon had an Eclipse badge last summer. Then again, last summer." Last summer, four out of five of the people now living in the apartment were working for Beryl. Things change.

Still. Riventon beat him to the anomaly. Riventon beat the two Puella to a Labyrinth. That's suggestive. A plan for trying to tell whether it's Kyubey's doing or whether Riventon has some way to survey the city for Witch manifestations weaves itself together in the back of Kunzite's head, is studied for a moment, is set aside. It'd need Mercury. Mercury's too damned busy, and already having enough trouble with her opposite number. Besides, it could always be bait. Riventon did make sure Kunzite walked out of that conversation still intact.

And then, without saying more out loud -- he clears Momo's vicinity, giving Asclepius space to work. Again.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Healing continues, Ascelpius is almost done. Almost... almost...done. Done! The wound's been closed. The blood... still remains because blood is blood and it needs washed off properly in conventional means. He stops the purple aura, letting it drop as he lowers his staff. "There." he says.

"You should be fine in terms of the wound. The rest needs cleaned up." he suggests softly.

He looks over to Momo and he walks in front of her and examines her next. Is there something in the wound? Is it gone and just the wound. He's careful with his examination.

"I think it sounds like Eclipse is using the Puella. They have what they need. They're willing to do what they want to get it." he says.

"It's lucrative, if they can deliver." he says. "Right?" he asks.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko can't help it. She grins when Momo starts cursing like a sailor. Something about hearing horrible expletives coming out of her cute little sister is just so.. endearing. But then she seems to remember herself, and she says, in her best Nee-san voice, "Momo, watch your language." As if she's one to talk.

    She shrugs her shoulders as she glances down at the now-closed wound. "Thanks.. you saved me a bundle." She says to Asclepius, sounding genuine. It's true, too- her Soul Gem has some black tendrils whirling through it, the result of the magic she used during the actual fight, but it's far less than she would have used if she had had to heal a wound like that. Homura had refused to fight, saying it wasn't worth the energy- Kyouko has to admit, in hindsight, maybe the other Puell had been right. Still, it could be worse. Thanks to her support network here, it turned out to be only a minor loss instead of a major one.

    "I dunno what's in it for them. Eclipse, I mean." Kyouko says, with a shrug. "But that don't really matter to me. If there are Grief Seeds out there, and it's just a matter of gettin' to 'em before Eclipse's goons and pet Puella can.. just means we needa figure out a way to do that."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo sticks her tongue out at her sister! But then corrects herself. "I mean, golly gosh, this sure does do a touch more than tickle!"

Momo's wound is pretty much just the result of mace spikes that got through her defences. Nothing indicated that the weapon was poisoned or leaked off dark energy, though, so it should mostly be just the would with whatever else detritus can mingle in an open wound during a fight.

Still, Momo's a bit scared! "Is it gonna hafta come off?" She's seen movies!

A beat. A pause.

"If it does, can I keep it so I can beat Riventon up with it?"

She's watching her wound with an odd sort of fascination. Funny how something on the arm won't kill you, and yet...

"Miss White says she's doin' a training program for Puella. To make sure they don't get sent out green. Apparently it's something they'd pay for." She looks up at Kyouko. "And of course, I dunno how much is on that card, but it was just for two empty seeds. Probably would be lots more if they were full."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Asclepius shakes his head. "No, no worries. I help. It's what I do." he smiles at Kyouko. "I'd do it even if you had the power to spare." he asides. He finishes examining Momo's wound and stands up. Debris will be removed by the magic. He knows that much-- it isn't very healing to leave a big ol' stone in a wound afterall!

He holds his staff out. He begins healing in the similar manner as he did Kyouko. Eyes closed. Concentrating. That purple aura forms and begins it's work. Cleaning foreign objects, begining to close--- edging the pain off a little bit.

"Miss White... eh?" he asks as he grimaces a bit and shakes his head. "I'm sure she means well at least." she says.

He reopens his eyes and peers over to Kyouko again. "It's a way to increase thier number and assure loyalty, of course- if I were to take it for it's face value. 'Flunkies' who are willing to do anything to get what they need to live without needing to deal with Witches and instead get them in turn for other services." he offers.

"But that's all guessing and my opinon. For all I know, they know something we don't- which is just as likely, right?" he asks.

He looks back to Momo's wound. It's healing well. "Just hold still." he offers to her. "It'll make it faster."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko scowls slightly at Momo as she brings up Miss White again. "I didn't like you havin' anything to do with Miss White before, Momo-chan," She says, her tone suddenly sour, "But I gotta say, in response to this crap, I'm gonna have ta put my foot down. Don't deal with her again. Now that we know Riventon is with Eclipse, and Kyubey is apparently workin' with them a well, we gotta regard her as the enemy." Not that Kyouko ever stopped doing that, but at least she had been more relaxed about other people's associations with Miss White. "She's Eclipse too, an' if Eclipse is workin' with Kyubey to try and kill us off, that makes them on the other side of any fight we're in."

    She doesn't comment on the card Momo mentions.. to do so would be to admit that the money had been a help, which of course it had been. But she's not about to admit that in front of the others. "For all we know this 'training program' of hers is the way they get 'em indoctrinated to join whatever Riventon's doin'." She sighs. Life had been complicated enough already without this crap.

    She watches as Asclepius starts to heal Momo's wound, which is far less severe than her own had been. "I appreciate that," She tells him, "But it means more now than it would other times so thanks. And for hers, too." She nods toward Momo. "As for the rest.. yeah. I don't wanna jump to any conclusions. I guess "Eclipse is bad" hardly counts as a revelation but Kyubey workin' with them in any capacity is enough to make my skin crawl."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo gives Kyouko the stinkiest, the most disgruntled face she can. "Miss White didn't make excuses. She told me she's bad. And she suggested I don't work for her because you don't like her."

See, she would trust other people's judgements about people without thought. She'd gladly leave people like Miss White and Kyubey behind without a second glance.

But since neither have done the bad things in her presence, a part of her still clings to the idea that maybe not everything's as it seems.

And, Kyouko will likely be ticked to discover that it's because of her and their father's reaction to her.

Daisuke tells her to sit still. "I am!" Her knee's wiggling, though. "Your staff is just shakey!"

Kunzite has posed:
"We still don't have proof it's Eclipse," Kunzite notes. "Of course, if Kyubey were working with Riventon alone, that would be worse. If there's an intermediary, it's possible that Riventon might not be experimenting with aspects of Puella magics and Kyubey's techniques."

He does not use the words 'soul gems.' Or 'grief seeds.' There are quite a number of secrets here that aren't his to give away.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Asclepius can't help himself. "My staff isn't shakey...." pause. "...it's 'snakey'." he says wryly. Yeah he's having himself just a bit of a moment of levity, despite the situation and talk as he sighs a bit. His healing magic does it's work-- it's working as expected.

He finishes his work on Momo as he steps back and lowers his staff. "There. It still may feel bad for a small bit, but you'll heal fine." he says softly. He takes a deep sigh and let's his transformation fade away-- and then slips the staff back into it's silver ring form. He nods a bit as he sighs and brushes a hand through his hair.

"You're right. We don't. Perhaps we need someone to confirm that or not." he says softly. "Anyone we can ask?" he asks as he strokes his chin.

He looks between everyone.

"I take it Mamoru is resting." he asides to Kunzite. "Right?" he asks. "There's not much I can do there, still." he says crossing his arms with a sigh.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Just cause a snake tells ya it's a snake don't make it any less dangerous." Kyouko shoots back to Momo, making a face right back at her. "She's always been like that, and people always seem willin' to give her a second chance, an' it always comes back to bit 'em in the ass." This may be twisting the facts a little bit due to her own dislike of the woman, but there's no denying that Miss White continues to be involved in shady enterprises despite the best efforts of numerous people who consider her a friend.

    She glances at Kunzite again, and sighs. "I know we don't got proof nii-chan, but I ain't willin' to take chances. Not with this." She glances at Momo, and the subtext is clear. Not with her sister- not again. She pushes off of the couch, then. "Anyway.. thanks again." She nods to Daisuke as he henshins back into his street form. "Knew I could count on you guys in a pinch, as always."

    She smiles, then walks over to Kunzite.. giving him a quick, one-armed hug. "Keep me up to date on what's goin' on with Fiore and him," She jerks her head towards Mamoru's bedroom, "Alright? My own problems are keepin' me away from here more than I like, but I don't wanna fall out of the loop. I'm with you guys, come hell or high water." SHe says this in a low voice, not exactly whispering but obviously meant for Kunzite alone.

    Then she turns and gestures. "C'mon Momo. Let's go home and get cleaned up." She turns and heads towards the balcony door again. "If we find out anything else, I'll keep you guys informed." She says, including both Kunzite and Daisuke, meaning the group in general, before she steps out through the door.

Momo Sakura has posed:
Nope, she's gonna be grumpy. She's gonna--giggle because that was funny, darnit Daisuke! She reaches over when he's done and gives him a hug! "Thank you!"

She doesn't even respond to Kyouko! She's too busy being grumpy and thinking really loudly about how her sister isn't even listening to her! And cursing her lack of a bedroom door to slam when they get home!

Grumble grumble.

One stark contrast between sisters, probably even more than the hair, is how Momo sucks at hiding what she's feeling.

So, when she overhears Kyouko talk about her own problems, Momo looks stricken!

She's a problem?

Droop.

"Yes, Nee-chan..." Droopy, wilty Momo gives Daisuke another hug and thanks, and droopy, wilty Momo give Kunzite a hug. She's too droopy and wilty to even blush at the last one. "Thank you for taking care of us..."

Kunzite has posed:
"Recovering," Kunzite answers Daisuke. "We had a situation Thursday night, and he overexerted himself dealing with it. It's taking him time to get enough energy back to work with." ... given that Mamoru usually overflows with more than enough to share, that's a somewhat frightening statement.

To people who know the usual, anyway. Not so much to Momo.

Kyouko's glance to Momo wins a slight nod from Kunzite -- then answers that one-armed hug with a like one, keeping well clear of her just-healed wound. "I'll tell you when we know more," he confirms to her. "We're only halfway in the loop ourselves, right now. It might take a few days for the girls to calm down and start talking with us again." No good-luck, no keep-safe. There's no standard goodbye for 'may your stabbing targets bring you feral glee.'

Momo gets a similar one-armed answer, with similar care for what Daisuke's put back together. "Of course." He tousles Momo's hair lightly as he steps back. "We make our own family, Mamoru likes to say. The least we can do is live up to that."

After the girls are out the door, he turns to Daisuke. "Thank you again for coming," he says. "We should catch up. When you have time; it's not so urgent that it needs to be tonight, if I interrupted you."

There might still be time to make that super secret hard dungeon run.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke gets a hug!? Yes a hug, he returns it with a smile. "No problem. If you guys ever need help, well have Kunzite call me." he says softly. "Or have him give you my number." he says as he places his hands into his pockets after hugs have been exchanged. He smiles.

"Take care." he says with a little wave of sorts.

He turns toward's Kunzite. "Right." he says softly as he purses his lips. He doesn't seem thrilled about Mamoru being so hurt. "I wish I could help this out. But I can't heal his main problem. We have to deal with it directly." he sighs a bit.

He sighs. "Well. If that's that, I'm going to head back home." he says. "Well. To my dorm anyways." he says.

"If things get bad, let me know. You seem to be okay right now." he offers.

AND with that, unless Kunzite stops him, he begins heading to the balcony to get himself back home.