The Palaces

The Palaces
Allied Faction:	Unaffiliated
Allied Groups:	Shitennou, Earth Court, Inner Senshi
Location Type:	Residence
Grid Locale:	None
	'The Palaces' is actually a misnomer, as these are in reality the four interlocking pocket-dimension seats of power of the Shitennou, which act as basically an airlock between Earth and Elysion-- which is still sealed, inaccessible. Jadeite's is connected to Earth underneath the House of Empty Rooms in Akihabara, Nephrite's is connected to Earth in the woods somewhere in the middle of the coast of British Columbia, Zoisite's is accessible from an impossible underground garden beneath the Paris Catacombs, and Kunzite's is... not actually particularly accessible Earthside. But we think the entrance should be somewhere in Oman maybe. Or possibly the Sahara. Or possibly something weirder has happened to it. The House of Empty Rooms: There's an apparently abandoned building in Akihabara, and the records for the property itself stretch back a very, very long time. It's currently an asset belonging to a family with a missing heir and no other living members, held in trust by a non-profit organization with no accessible contacts. The property is large, but for reasons unknown, has not been noticed or fought for by developers. It's quiet, tucked in a triangle between a park, a major thoroughfare, and an office complex; it's ringed by ancient trees and a low stone wall, yard completely overgrown. The house itself is unlocked, but there's no evidence of vandalism, only gentle decay; the drive to its side is a long gravel thing, and by the looks of it, no car's driven on it in anything resembling recent memory. The inside of the house is dusty and pleasantly warm even in winter, despite the lack of electricity or running water. All of the rooms are empty, all of the doors open, and sunlight comes through the windows under the doors, illuminating motes of dust stirred up by the passage of guests. The basement door is through the kitchen, and it's a wide and very, very dark stairwell; the stairs go on and on and on, a good half hour's descent. The door at the bottom is wooden and wreathed in roots, and sunshine blazes through the boards and around the edges and at the bottom of it. There's a beautifully fresh scent. Jadeite's Palace: Beyond the ancient grown-there wooden door at the bottom of the half-hour staircase from outside is stillness and peace, summertime and cool shade, the sun dappling the mossy ground and the lichen-covered stone steps ahead. Thankfully, there aren't nearly as many as there are leading to the Hikawa Jinja, but this place is as sacred, as blessed. An arch sits at the top, and komainu sit to either side of it, watching the group with a fair amount of amusement and, at least for one of them, vague cranky disapproval. They are stone, and they are alive, and they move. The top of the steps opens into a bright, clean, neat courtyard. There's a little mini-shrine off to one side with a cat curled up in it, dozing contentedly; birds nest sleepily and small forest creatures skitter around, picking up seeds and nuts and stuffing them in their faces before scampering off. The wind lazily rustles the trees, and the place is warm and clean and serene. At the other end of the courtyard is a simple entrance with pleasing symmetry; the building beyond it looks rather like a monastery, built to last, with an ancient feel to it-- large, white with natural wood and painted-red trim and rice paper doors and a low raised long porch, beautiful and peaceful, constructed partially within the enormous cliff-face that rises behind it. A waterfall spills down the cliff face to one side, and vanishes into the forest. It feels like a dream. (A zen monastery with a tall cliff behind it and a waterfall cascading down; it is airy and spacious and restful. It is accessible through the staircase beneath the House of Empty Rooms. A shrine cat hangs out in the yard, for the most part. It's a normal cat.) Guardians: Living stone komainu who are always bickering. Zoisite's Palace: The place is green and lush, damp with the remnants of early morning in late Spring before the sun's vanished the dew back into the sky. It smells right, it feels right-- secluded, cut off, but right-- and the sky is above and bluer than anything present on this modern Earth, and the air cleaner, and the colors all more vivid. Everything's in bloom, there are roses... there are roses of varieties not known on Earth at this time. Just beyond what's apparently a courtyard and nestled between gentle hills, there's a palace built of stone, bright wrought metals, polished wood, brilliantly colored cut crystal and glass. There are few straight lines; everything is organic, grown, curved. Everything is decorated, form as precious as function -- and everything breathes. There's energy everywhere, magic everywhere. It's so familiar, and it's true and clean. Guardian: An enormous raven who speaks in riddles. Nephrite's Palace: The term "palace" becomes stretched to its limits where Nephrite's is concerned. Indeed, it is really more of a formality to use the word at all in describing the small island. Though it is not lacking for towers, as enormous redwood cedars, ancient and untouched by any axe, stretch up into the heavens. The only handmade structures to be found are the platforms and rope bridges stretching between the trees, and the carved totems standing sentry near the water. An enormous blue sandstone glyph is set into the largest clearing, the quartered circle. Guardian: The Thunderbird, enigmatic and intimidating. Kunzite's Palace: The place is hot and dry. Another castle-- though this one seems more like a fortress. Composed primarily of white sandstone, it's clean, though there is sand on the floor. Although it's spacious and bright, there's an eerie silence. Beyond the palace itself-- where they can see through windows or open arches-- there is an endless desert that's nearly too bright to look at. Further in from the entrance from Nephrite's palace, where the archway's sandstone is blue and starry, and carved trees and vines bedeck its surface, the palace is dimmer and the shadows turn the sands brown and gold. Shafts of light fall in from skylights and fallen parts of the roof. The quartered circle is in evidence, part of the designs that decorate the bricks near the ceiling and near the floor. There is a dry fountain in the courtyard. Guardian: The most sarcastic Caracal ever to exist, roughly the size of a Clydesdale.

Associated Logs

Title	Date	Scene Summary
La Vie en Rose	January 14th, 2016	The Senshi go beneath the Paris Catacombs to find the gardens there, and they-- and Zoisite-- discover far more than they bargained for. Also, there's a catfight between Zoisite and Sailor Moon.
I'm Not Locked In Here With You	January 14th, 2016	Zoisite's kidnapped Jupiter and Mercury through his control of the impossible palace beneath the Paris catacombs. Mercury is the one who offers him a deal. Jupiter is the one who keeps him from killing them for the offer...
Burning Clean	January 15th, 2016	Zoisite is firestorm furious because everything is being taken from him. Endymion is... completely baffling. (Takes place in the gardens just outside the palace, in the edge of the real world.)
These Days Of Dust	January 26th, 2016	Zoisite and Kunzite actually have a conversation. Kunzite's been doing Zoisite's job as well as his own for weeks, and it's getting close to the time when his student may need to take them over. Or to betray him. For Kunzite, there's no way out of this but through. For Zoisite, there are more options, but the choices he has are almost as terrible as the things that he's learning...
Tread Lightly	February 13th, 2016	The Senshi and friends go to acquire the next part of the key to the Silver Crystal from Jadeite's mega-antediluvian palace, and, to almost no one's surprise, get some extremely unpleasant stowaways.
At the End of the Tour	February 16th, 2016	Wherein Mamoru's friends and loved ones beat Dark Endymion to a pulp so Usagi can purify him. SPOILERS: It works. THANKS TO: Mint Chip for emitting the evil part, omg.
Finally Five Minutes	February 17th, 2016	...to themselves, when they're both awake and nobody else is around. Time for Usagi to get a good cry in, and time for Mamoru to just relax and be with her.
Roll Away Your Stone	February 19th, 2016	Wherein Nephrite and Kunzite win a Silver Crystal key fragment, Makoto reveals her identity, Kunzite remembers, Rei punches him, and Usagi purifies Nephrite. Also, treehouses. Busy day.
I'll Know My Name When It's Called Again	February 20th, 2016	Endymion pulls one more piece into place as the fight against the Dark Kingdom nears its endgame. Mostly this involves navigating a maze of spiky insecurities and uncomfortable perceptions, but some of it is just a little more coming home.
Relative Values of Okay	February 20th, 2016	Makoto comes to visit Mamoru with lunch and uncertainty, and Mamoru convinces her that passing grades are the best way to flip off the Dark Kingdom and by god he will help her get them.
Priorities	February 20th, 2016	Still temporarily sane, Kunzite asks for a conference with Sailor Venus, Endymion, and Sailor Moon, in order to figure out what they're doing with (a) the Silver Crystal (b) the fact that he's about to turn into one of Beryl's weapons again and (c) Melanite having kidnapped Naru. Nobody else knew about Naru. Moon did not know about Naru. Moon DOES NOT TAKE THIS WELL.
Call Off Your Artemis!	February 20th, 2016	Following 'Priorities', Sailor Venus and Kunzite go to acquire the last piece of the key to the Silver Crystal while Kunzite is still momentarily sane. The guardian of the place is a caracal the size of a Clydesdale. There is absolutely no doubt that it is, in all ways, a cat. (They get the piece.)
Out Of The Woods	February 20th, 2016	Nephrite and Makoto in the aftermath of Nephrite's purification. There's no wiping the slate clean, and no more pretending. (Directly follows "Roll Away Your Stone," roughly concurrent with "Priorities.")
Ex Astris Scientia	February 22nd, 2016	Mamoru comes to find Nephrite after the events of the weekend. There is Bro Time, which involves awkwardness and coffee and crying and hugging and strategy and astrology. Shut up it's amazing.
Loose Wires and Dropped Calls	February 23rd, 2016	Homura comes to visit Mamoru. The problem is that they're both trying to put themselves back together after trauma, and some of the trauma is still ongoing, even if they're both technically getting their happy endings at the same time. Maybe they think they're just too different from who they were -- or maybe it's just that they're both lying about being whole and hale, presenting faces to each other that are more masked than they've ever been, to avoid hurting the other -- but they don't quite manage to connect. Not yet. But Madoka's bento is delicious.
Remember Spring Swaps Snow for Leaves	February 24th, 2016	Sailor Mercury comes to see Mamoru to tell him about the plan for Kunzite-- and to see for herself he's all right. Zoisite's with him, and Usagi arrives around the same time; they all go over the details.
How This Grace Thing Works	February 24th, 2016	After Zoisite's Escalation, Nephrite sweeps him and Mamoru off to safety. Where the three of them have a moment to recover, and to try to remember parts of their old equilibrium, and to start trying to find a new one that might be more stable than the old. Also to cheerfully be jerks at each other, because how else do you do that anyway? Also, there are shoes.
Naru Perspective Broadened	February 26th, 2016	Naru actually meets Usagi's boyfriend. After getting rescued from the Dark Kingdom.
Knight of Healing	February 26th, 2016	Usagi looks in on recently-purified Zoisite. Zoisite takes this as an opportunity to mend fences before his prince figures out just how MUCH Zoisite's been irritating Moon. In other words, someone decided it was a good idea to put two emotionally-driven, contact-addicted people with low impulse control in the same room unsupervised. There is a lot of hugging. And shipping. Zoisite's not so sure about this shipping HIM thing, mind.
I Have Seen the Same	February 28th, 2016	CONTENT WARNING: Kunzite is made of corruption and wasps. SUMMARY: Nephrite goes to find Mamoru, since he hasn't seen him and he's been acting super skittish and kind of weird. He finds him doing something commendably devoted and apparently hideously dangerous, and calls him out on it. Turns out it's way more unpleasant than he thought, but, uh, still commendably devoted? Then they have more bonding time. (lol i sux @ sumarys pls r&r!)
Is There a Bunny Constellation?	February 29th, 2016	Usagi delivers gifts to Nephrite. Important questions are asked, hugs are distributed, and underwear passes scrutiny.
Strength Yet To Be Found	March 1st, 2016	Makoto comes by to see how Nephrite's doing. You can't fix everything, but it turns out that homemade pizza goes a long way.
Trust	March 4th, 2016	Wherein Minako and Mamoru talk about Dark Kingdom endgame, sad Senshi, doomed Kunzite, strategy, loose cannons, and incidentally, unintended potty jokes. There is a lot of dialogue. It gets stabby at the end. Readers under five feet tall may wish to bring floatation devices.
Whistleblowing	March 5th, 2016	Makoto comes to restless at Mamoru a bit, and they both find out Usagi never told Mamoru about her house. Or anything. Happens after 'Trust' but before 'Repairs'.
Collect Your Courage	March 6th, 2016	Kyouko's told the plan is to kill Kunzite -- and that it's okay to call him brother. Pre-scene to Power's Out.
Cheating	March 6th, 2016	Nephrite, Jadeite, and Mamoru make fun of a rock. Then the rock speaks up. Happens after 'When The City Clears'
When The City Clears	March 6th, 2016	Several Senshi and Shitennou take a moment of downtime after the fight against Kunzite. This involves amusement, morbid topics, reunions, a little brokenness, a little sake, and a reminder that things not only will get better, but are already beginning to.
Plant Your Hope With Good Seeds	March 10th, 2016	Ami finds Mamoru in Kunzite's palace, and they talk about Takashi, fixing people, safe resurrection practices, and faith. The caracal purrs a lot. (Backdated because of timey-wimey D-Point.)
Kintsugi: The Fragile Substance	March 10th, 2016	Mamoru goes urbexing with a rock: the house above Jadeite's palace is familiar to both Kunzite and his prince, and they go looking around upstairs-- until things are familiar enough that Kunzite can tell Mamoru which room to look in.
Cat Hugs	March 15th, 2016	Luna finds Mamoru. Luna pounce Mamoru. Luna and Mamoru talk.
Teleportation Will Never Be Kazuo	March 15th, 2016	Mamoru is angsting: Usagi tanked a dark energy sword, Kunzite still hasn't got a body, and everything is wasps and suck. Nephrite is super great at distraction, and the terrors of teleportation provide the perfect conversational divergence. Mamoru still absolutely blows at it, though.
Kintsugi: Paint My Spirit Gold	March 16th, 2016	Mercury had a plan to resurrect Kunzite. Everyone helped, everyone believed, even if they weren't sure they should. Everyone waited.
On the Same Side	March 16th, 2016	Makoto and Kunzite talk shortly after the latter's reawakening. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of practical details discussed, alongside the general question of 'what now?' (Follows 'Kintsugi: Paint My Spirit Gold,' leads into 'Close Contact.')
Communicating Conditions	March 17th, 2016	After Makoto's prompting, Luna finds Mamoru, which is good, and Kunzite, which is less to her taste. She has communicators for them. She also has a VERY OLD bone to pick with Kunzite, understandably enough...
New Life, New Body, New Plan	March 18th, 2016	Kunzite passes on one of Luna's presents to Nephrite, which invokes a lot of catch-up conversation about Kunzite's new body, Mamoru's hideous hoodie habit, Nephrite owning a crepe stand (what?), and what in the world they're going to be doing now. Surprisingly, Kunzite actually answers that last one.
Family Matters	March 28th, 2016	Kyouko brings Sayaka to meet another part of the family! This will not be weird /at all/.
Clearly Living in a Reality Show	May 31st, 2016	Nephrite and Makoto come to the palaces after school, where Mamoru's been annoying Kunzite all day. News is caught up on. Picnic is set to. Hair is challenged.
Four Wheel Drive	June 3rd, 2016	Madoka and Homura visit Mamoru and Kunzite to catch up and discuss current events at Jadites underground palace. What the heck does the title have to do with that? Inquire within to find out!
Reserves	June 3rd, 2016	Kunzite checks in with the sidelined Mamoru. Mamoru's frustrations with his own condition boil over in a potentially useful way. (Takes place between
She Takes Me By the Hand	June 7th, 2016	It's the literal calm before a figurative storm. Mamoru and Usagi stockpile hugs and such to get them through.
Seasons And Wonders	July 24th, 2016	Kunzite takes Naru to Jadeite's palace, in the hope it might help her recovery from the recent Wraith attack. As usual, conversation ensues.
A Rose Arose	September 6th, 2016	Messy conversations about magic, identity, fear, lies, and mud. Lots of mud.
Art Installations and Occam's Razor	October 18th, 2016	Naru goes looking for Kunzite, and finds a lot of fangs.
Other Kinds Of Love	January 1st, 2017	(Content warning: language.) Mamoru and Kunzite fight over what happened with Lacrima. This time, the world does not actually end.
By the Book	May 25th, 2017	Kazuo wakes from rogue dreams to find something's followed him out of them. Of COURSE this gives Mamoru an Idea.
It's A Good Tree	June 2nd, 2017	Naru is notably lacking her zen. Kunzite takes her somewhere that sometimes helps to look for it, and they consider possible reasons beyond the obvious domestic ones.
First Corner of the Earth	June 26th, 2017	Daisuke agreed to look for signs of Sailor Earth's existence in the lingering remnants of the Golden Kingdom. Step one: Kunzite's palace. The caracal is exactly as helpful as usual.
Second Corner of the Earth	July 2nd, 2017	Daisuke's hunt for evidence of Sailor Earth takes him to Nephrite's palace. Unhelpful Thunderbird is unhelpful, but at least Neph's got dating advice.
Memorybeans III: Revenge of Memorybeans	July 3rd, 2017	Nephrite eats the nightmare-flavored memorybeans under Kunzite's supervision. Worst camping trip ever.
As The Sky Clears	July 6th, 2017	Nephrite's still holed up in his palace dealing with the lingering effects of his memorybean bender. Makoto checks in on him and reminds him that he's not in it alone.
London Bridge	September 29th, 2017	Naru finally asks Mamoru for help with the dark thoughts in her head, and they find black mold creeping up the walls of her mind and decide to apply a flamethrower to it.
Nightmare Followup	November 12th, 2017	Kazuo shows Seishi the rest of his problems - the broken henshin, and the broken palace. (The caracal approves of Seishi.)
Thank You All For Coming To My Dead Talk	August 5th, 2018	After Sailor Earth ganks Mamoru's sailor crystal, his body is transferred to the Palaces and Life Mahou Joy pours her healing energy into restarting his heart.
Hello Darkness, My New Friend	August 5th, 2018	The morning after Thank You All For Coming To My Dead Talk, Miho and the others wake up in Kunzite's palace just in time for Mamoru to show up in ghost-form. Then something even more surprising happens!
Seeking One (1) Haunting	August 7th, 2018	In Which Rashmi and Friends Follow Ridiculous Directions to the Palaces and Are Joined By a Ghost and Some Shitennou
Insights Around Every Corners	September 9th, 2018	An afternoon in Jadeite's palace doesn't go quite the way anyone planned - but that's for the best, considering that Kyouko and Naru have advice, and Jadeite is finally listening.
Should Have Brought Tuna	October 4th, 2019	Naru takes her attempt at the fourth day of Inktober to Jadeite's palace. The shrine cat approves of people. The shrine cat does not approve of Jadeite not bringing apology treats.