View source for 55/Song to the Moon

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/06/09
|Location=Pikarigaoka - Old Church
|Synopsis=The lonely witch, with a lovelorn nature.
|Cast of Characters=34, 38, 40, 45, 54, 56
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:56|Nephrite (56)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The suburbs of Pikarigaoka are quiet at dusk. Sleepy. Commuters are finally reaching their homes after a long day at work, lights inside the neighborhood houses flicker on as homework gets worked on and dinners get prepared. For most of the residents, it is a Monday night like any other.<br /><br />Others have heard a voice. Girlish, pleading, clearly on the verge of tears. She speaks directly into their minds, in a language that is clearly not Japanese -- but somehow, they still understand it. And they feel compelled to follow.<br /><br />"Please...come to me. I'm so lonely."<br /><br />A mother walks out of her home, apron wrapped around her waist, knife still in hand.<br /><br />A man leaves his car in the middle of traffic, to the outrage of the drivers behind him.<br /><br />A group of three young girls, no older than middle school, drop their ice creams dead away and turn their feet towards the old church.<br /><br />The crowd of twenty or so marches steadily forward to the massive building, entranced by the cries of the woman in their minds.<br /><br />"Come to me. Come die with me."<br /><br />They are all too happy to oblige.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino was in town, on an errand, when some strange voice starts calling out? He narrows his eyes, feels a little bit light headed, but then something snaps him out of it. What just happened!? The people are going.. somewhere, down the way as he passes by the area of the tall clover tower. Some people begin towards the chuch. Something feels... wrong. Like a sinking feeling in his gut.<br /><br />He opens his phone and texts Gao--- something is up. He's going to be checking it out. He closes his phone and slips it into his pocket, before he slips between two buildings----<br /><br />"To Protect Justice--- I am Guardian Hino!"<br /><br />There's a flash, and Hinote transforms into Guardian Hino in a flash. He begins skirting along the edge of the forest, out from behind the rows of houses, as he comes up to the church. Something feels wrong here. He's going to find out what's going on!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sometimes simply walking slowly while studying has it's benefits, like making sure you stay out of everyone's way. In Ami's case, she happens to be mostly close to the area where the people hear the call, and get that weird feeling when people shuffle on by. Ami closes her book and slides off of the side walk where everyone is walking, tapping her communicator. "Luna! Something strange is going on here. People are walking on by like they're under a trance. I'm going to check it out, but I'm going to get some readings." She says as she turns off the communicator, and digging out her pen and finding a secluded alleyway before raising it up.<br /><br /><span style="color:xterm33">Mercury Power! Make-Up!</span><br /><br />A symbol spins out of her pen and a blue and white ribbon flows out of the pen. Ami arches her back and spins around until the ribbon covers her body, then bursts into motes of light, revealing her to be....<br /><br /><span style="color:xterm33">Sailor Mercury</span><br /><br />Coming out of a side alley, and watching where everyone is going, Sailor Mercury gets as close as she possibly can without being seen, presses her earring to bring up her visor, and starts taking readings.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino/Sailor V is on the scene! <br /><br />But she's not very imSailor</span> <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">V</span> re-evaluated the situation, deeming the weird magical voice in her head as the 'criminal' instead of the 'victim' after it started urging people to die. Instead, she's turned her efforts toward encouraging the clearly not-quite-there crowd into not going towards the vague magical voice with terrible ideas.<br /><br />"Pleaaaase turn around," she encourages a group of young schoolchildren. Easy enough to pick up and carry away, but like herding cats, one starts meandering back while you're trying to drag away her friends.<br /><br />"Come on, this is dangerous. Go home!" she urges an older man, but politely, because she respects her elders. "Please? Urrrg, this is harder when face-kicking is off the table."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:34|Gaofele Doiru (34)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Gao had been spending the day wandering around Tokyo, and was watching the sunset from Clover Tower when Hinote's text came in. He remembers seeing the church earlier in the day -- and more importantly, he remembers the last time 'something is up' occured. Better head there, just in case there's trouble...<br /><br />It takes a couple of minutes to return to ground level, but Gao starts heading towards the church. Once in an alley, he slides a bracer onto his left arm, and intones--<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#229966">"To protect the lands, I am Guardian Gao!"</span><br /><br />There's a flash of <span style="color:#229966">green</span>, then Guardian Gao dashes along, aided by springy launches from plants temporarily summoned beneath his feet. The church swiftly draws within sight; the forester should be there momentarily...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:56|Nephrite (56)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The untrained mundane eye would see only the crowd moving inexorably towards the church, ignoring all attempts to stop them. The schoolgirls Sailor V confronts blindly stumble around her -- until she grabs one of their number and tries to drag her away. Immediately, they turn and sick themselves on the soldier of justice, not recognizing her despite her fame.<br /><br />"Let me go!" the red-haired girl cries, squirming in V's grip while her compatriots at turns try to scratch at her and pull her hair. "She needs us! She needs us to die with her!"<br /><br />Meanwhile, at the doors of the church, a glowing seal appears: an intricate pattern of lilies and vines in the shape of a cursive 'R', colored a sickly blue-green. The mundanes of the world will not see it, but to the magical warriors drawn in by the strange events, the seal seeps out a magic haze that twists the world around them until they are no longer at the old church, no longer in Pikarigaoka.<br /><br />No. Now, they have found themselves in a grotesque world of watercolor. Black-green trees shoot up from the ground around them, with visible swirls of wind swaying them back and forth. Perhaps a hundred yards away -- if human measurements have any meaning inside a witch's Labyrinth -- lies a lake full of obsidian water, undisturbed and still like a mirror, reflecting the massive, blood red moon that hangs in the sky.<br /><br />The mother, the first victim to be called, makes her stumbling way over to that lake. A human hand made of seaweed and lily blossoms breaks through the water, beckoning her closer. More and more such hands emerge as the entranced crowd enters the witch's lair, ready to drag the sacrifices down into a watery grave.<br /><br />In the real world, the victims climb up to the church's spire, their intentions clear.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:34|Gaofele Doiru (34)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Gao might not have fought a Witch before, but the distortion of reality is similar to what Rune and Hinote have described. He is disoriented for a moment, both by the distortion and the unnatural landscape, but the sight of people staggering towards the vile lake helps snap him out of it.<br /><br />Using another burst of "Forest Wall!"</span> In response, a barrier of plants emerges from the ground in a line extending from the forester Knight, forcing the would-be sacrifices to either climb over or go around -- either way, it will slow them down.<br /><br />Looking around, he spots his fellow Knight. "Hinote! Is this what I think it is?" Gao calls, maintaining the barrier of plants.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino enters... a weird bizzare world. He looks over to Gao and flags him down. "This is.. like the time me and Rune walked across that bridge!" he asides. "Only.. it's this instead of some weird castle." he says as he stares at the bizzare landscape. He gives a quick blink of his eyes, as he's beset by some sort of insane howling, and intense force set upon him- it rends across his armor and his knee jerk reaction is to raise his sword.<br /><br />"A Witch... was what it was called. Right?" he asks. "Yeah this is --- the same thing that Rune and I encountered."<br /><br />There's not a lot here to attack, but there's some sort of arm coming out of the obsidan black lake--- that'll have to do. He raises his sword into the air and it ignites into fire. "Fire Wave!" he calls out as he flings a wave of fire into that spindly hand as Gao goes about trying to slow people down.<br /><br />"Right! Try to.. stop those people Gao!" he asides.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Despite the chaos that is going on, Sailor Mercury runs to a closer vantage point. She looks up and smiles seeing the guardians trying to protect the people from sacrificing themselves, and thus...continues her scanning.<br /><br />This may seem callous, coming from Sailor Mercury, but the more data she gets, the faster they can defeat what is causing this.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino/<span style="color:xterm69">Sailor</span> <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">V</span> passes between upset at being ignored in favor of suicide and then getting attention in the form of kids smacking her. She bears the assault with dignity, since kids versus the illustrious justice warrior is nowhere near a fair fight, but it makes her unhappy and looks absolutely ridiculous.<br /><br />"No. No! Stop! Stay. Stay here!" she insists, backtracking away from flailing hands and doing her best to distract people away from going towards the strange weird gate thingy until, moments later, she jumps over the recent undergrowth to make her own way there!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:56|Nephrite (56)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The intrusion of the warriors into the witch's world has finally caught her attention -- and in an instant, the peaceful Labyrinth is thrown into chaos. A shrill cry echoes across the watercolored landscape, stirring the gentle breezes into an outright gale, each gust of wind morphing until it resembles a kind of transparent human face. They continue their banshee-like shrieks as they shoot towards Guardian Gao and Sailor Mercury, with enough force to knock them off their feet, should they fail to stand their ground.<br /><br />(A split second before, Mercury's computer blinks. The source of power in this alternate world lies very close to the fighters on the battlefield, but it cannot yet pinpoint the exact location. It lags and sputters as the nonsense of the Labyrinth's world interferes with its programming.)<br /><br />Sailor V and Guardian Hino, meanwhile, receive some more...personalized attention. The hand that had previously been beckoning the mother realizes that the flaming sword is coming and lashes out at the last second, a great spout of water shooting towards him to extinguish the threat. It then shoots like a viper toward the mother, grabbing her by the waist and submerging her underwater.<br /><br />In Sailor V's direction, at least five seaweed hands emerge from the ever-undisturbed lake, grasping at her as she runs. A particularly deft one lunges for her ankle.<br /><br />Rusalka likes this spirited girl. She wants to keep her.<br /><br />The blood red moon glows ever brighter in the starless, painted sky.<br /><br />Fortunately for the crowd, Gao's wall seems to have had the desired effect. A few of the more tenacious begin to climb the brambles, still under the spell of the witch; but for most others, the hardship has broken the witch's hold over them, and they fall to the ground, totally unconscious.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino is beset by water. It forces him backwards, and down, causing him to roll against the ground. He wheezes a bit. That was... some kind of hit. The water may not agree with him either. He's kind of /steaming/ as he gets up off the ground and raises his sword into the air. He watches in horror, as someone is pulled under the shiny black surface. This doesn't set right with him.<br /><br />"LET THEM GO!" he calls out to the witch, screaming for a moment, as his emotions get the better of him, he charges to the very edge of the black ichor lake, and makes a move to swipe at one of these many hands, and/or seaweed, the sword shining in the light as he moves to strike hard into the creature.<br /><br />Of course, now he's in grabbing range- but he doesn't care so much about that.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:34|Gaofele Doiru (34)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Gao nods to Hinote. This might not change the tactics, but it does mean that there's going to be a grief seed after the Witch is defeated. Also, it means that this isn't some new, previously unknown type of youma -- a small blessing, but one that is still appreciated.<br /><br />The sight of the would-be victims mostly passing out when they can't bypass the plants brings a slight smile to his face -- a smile soon knocked loose by the howling gale, and dropped to a horrified gasp as the mother is dragged below the crimson water. "No more for you!" he yells defiantly, summoning his bow. Glancing at all of the grasping hands, the Knight aims for the ones pursuing Sailor V, and unleashes a flechette barrage of thin shafts. He doubts that he could chase the hands away from the Senshi; instead, the swarm of arrows is more directly aimed at the aquatic limbs.<br /><br />Gao just hopes that the underwater victim has enough breath to survive until rescued -- and that the wall of plants holds long enough to keep the others slowed down on their march towards drowning.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"That can't be.." Mercury says as she taps the datapad she has. It's all she manages to get out before the banshee wails hit her. She screams to try and equalize the pressure on her ears, but she manages to stand her ground....barely. When the wailing stops, Mercury uncovers her ears, a few seconds afterwards. "Ow. That hurt." Except for her ears ringing from the initial attack, she's mostly fine.<br /><br />However, this doesn't deter her from trying to get her scanner to work again.<br /><br />It takes her a minute, but she gets the datapad to work again, and she scans as quickly as she possibly can to find WHERE the witch is. "Hopefully it'll pinpoint her location so the guardians can get to the witch before anyone gets truly hurt."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino/<span style="color:xterm69">Sailor</span> <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">V</span> takes off at a casual jog, turning towards seaweedy hands with momentary confusion that turns to detached interest. It takes a second before she recognizes them as roughly human appendages made out of seaweed, but today has been a day with plant things popping up all around her.<br /><br />"Oh ho ho ho, a quadroboxer! But you forget, I have two legs, so it's an even fight," she says, throwing herself directly towards the hands and punching and kicking like a storm. She takes a moment out to give a big thumbs-up in Gao's general direction before turning her attention back to her opponent(s?).<br /><br />Unfortunately, V cannot count and suffers for the effort, getting herself into an arm-wrestling match where she's three hands down.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:56|Nephrite (56)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>In the real world, as in the Labyrinth, much of the crowd has dropped into unconciousness, their minds still trapped with the witch even if they are no longer held under her spell. A few of the devoted souls march onward, however; the mother in particular hovers just inches away from the edge of the spire, while one of the schoolgirls approaches behind her. Lonely -- the girl said she was lonely. They have to help her, don't they?<br /><br />Inside the Labyrinth, the fight with the lonely monster rages on. Gales of wind like desperate screams fill the air, even as the ghostly faces hover in the sky, standing vigil more than attacking. The volley of Gao's arrows find its mark, each flechette burrowing into a portion of the unholy hands risen from the lake and dispelling them in an explosion of lily blossoms. The hand that had been reaching towards the schoolgirl disappears in such a way, and the intended victim goes limp, released from the spell by the Guardian's attack.<br /><br />However, not everyone is so lucky. Sailor V has managed to grab one of the many seaweed arms reaching toward her, and it explodes in the same way Gao's targets did. Unfortunately for her, the other wrapped around her arms and legs like vices, towing her several feet into the sky but, oddly enough, not submerging her just yet. A tendril off one of them snakes around her neck, as though waiting for some unseen kill command that has not yet come.<br /><br />Rusalka isn't sure what she wants to do with her just yet.<br /><br />Guardian Hino encounters no such hesitation from her, however. Recognizing her last attack as successful, the lake rises up in a wall of water and collapses on the fire knight, an intense riptide attempting to carry him underneath the waves as it recedes once again. The water is bitterly cold, though more disabling than that -- and even the lack of oxygen -- is the overwhelming feeling of *hopelessness* that overtakes those who are held under the waters of the lake.<br /><br />Mercury's computer whirs and beeps, straining against the illogial parameters of this reality, until it finally turns up a result. Its findings are only confirmed a half-second later, when the moon itself blazes to life like a crimson sun, outraged at being discovered. Rusalka shoots an arrow of that miserable light towards the Senshi of Wisdom as punishment for her prying eyes.<br /><br />The screen of Mercury's computer reads: Rusalka. The lonely witch with a lovelorn nature. Imprisoned within a moon for her hubris, she keeps her victims in an underwater collection for her viewing.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>In the chaos of wailing and ghosts and sadness and fury, a silent watcher's been observing the battle, down amongst the fallen civilians or keeping to the back or among the dizzily shifting shadows and air that's thick with noise.<br /><br />Sailor Moon isn't here, but her friend is, as well as the legendary Sailor V. Homura said these things were difficult to beat and pulled surprises and impossibilities out of thin air, and altogether too good at being incoherent with vengeful wrath. She said some other very interesting things.<br /><br />This one's lonely, or was. The despair is palpable if one knows it's what to look for, if one is aware enough of the feelings of others--<br /><br />Finally, on feet light as air and darkness, the smudge of darkness and red with glimpses of white descends in a rustle of billowing cape Sailor Mercury, bending down and lightly touching a gloved hand to her elbow. "If you can pinpoint the physical location of the emissions of negative ''emotional'' energy, I'll lay odds it's the physical weak point. Find that and give us some cover, and I can aim Sailor V at it," he says in a low voice that just barely carries, that's only just enough to carry to Sailor Mercury alone.<br /><br />He lifts an arm to swirl out his cape in a sidelong attempt to disperse as much of the incoming attack as he can, keeping his position in front of her as soon as the light from the arrow shines past him, illuminating Mercury; there's no time to make sure he's between her and it. "Also, brace," he says shortly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:34|Gaofele Doiru (34)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Hino!" Gao yells as the Knight of fire is hauled under the water. One Senshi is entangled by grasping vines; the other is being blasted at... /by the moon?!?/ At least that mysterious caped stranger appears to be helping Mercury! The screaming sky is no longer as much of a startlement, although it's still grating on his nerves.<br /><br />Well, one thing at a time: first, help Hino! Gao draws another arrow, aiming for the lake towards where he last saw the fire Knight. There's a shot that's good for grabbing things; might it work for a similar purpose...?<br /><br /><span style="color:#229966">"Bramble Grapple!"</span> he calls out, releasing the arrow. It splits into eight linked vines, as usual -- but this time four of them are grasping his arm, while the other four snake out towards Hinote, trying to pull him out of the dreary water.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Seeing the darkened figure in front of her, Sailor Mercury gasps slightly. "Who are you?" She manages to get out just before Tuxedo kamen's words to her. Once he says Brace, She's huddled up in a ball as the arrow blast her backwards. She really didn't have much other choice, since the attack, even with Tuxedo Kamen's help hits her like a Mack truck with a full load going down a mountain.<br /><br />She finally gets up, quite shaken, but remembering Tuxedo Kamen's words, and taps in the parameters for the scan......and she really does hope this works.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino/Sailor V does the weird thing where fighting in mid-air while various appendages try to pull her all about isn't particularly effective, so she goes for a different tactic - bunching herself into a ball and gripping at the choking thing around her neck. <br /><br />Not so much out of desperation from choking, but so she can shout things.<br /><br />"How dare you imitate marine biology to try to kill innocent people and choke lovely defenders of justice! But you've made a mistake. Before, you were only in front of me, but now, you're all around me!" she claims, slowly rolling bits of stretched out weedy hands around herself and then... rolling her body down towards the ground in a weird display of wrestling.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino feels himself get tugged under. His eyes go wide. He tries to catch himself but he fails, he's tugged under the water, and all he can do is take a quick breath as he struggles to get free. This is horror. This must be what horror feels like. He shouldn't had gone so close to the water. He might /die/, and for a fleeting moment, he ponders letting that happen----<br /><br />Then Gao's Bramble Grapple splits past him in the water. He grabs onto it, and uses it to drag himself out of the ichor. He has to keep fighting this thing as best he can as he takes a hard breath.<br /><br />"T..Thanks, Gao!" he calls out to his fellow knight as he takes a deep breath. He needs a moment to get his breath, as he leans down on his sword. He doesn't take too long though, because he lashes out with the sword, it blazes on fire as he tries to cut through more of these things arms.<br /><br />"Burning Slash!" he calls out, as he leaves fire in his wake.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:56|Nephrite (56)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>This is the end. She's been discovered. She's been *seen*. The intruders have deprived her of everything: her friends, her peace, her privacy. Her home. And now they know that she is truly a cratered, ugly chunk of rock, floating forever isolated in the sky, separated from the beautiful world she's created below.<br /><br />(There was a time she talked to the moon like it was an old friend. The only friend she had. She doesn't remember how she became imprisoned inside it, or why. Everything is a blur of watercolored solitude in her mind.)<br /><br />As she wrestles, Sailor V will feel the vines grow slack, then eventually disappear in a tornado of lily petals that float upwards to the great low-hanging moon. She is free, but falling, ever faster towards the obsidian lake below.<br /><br />And she is not the only one.<br /><br />With a cry like thunder, the great witch in the moon unleashes her scarlet radiance and lets herself descend, drawing ever closer to the Labyrinth she created with loving care. She'll destroy it all. The intruders. The Labyrinth. All the friends she placed under the lake to keep them from running.<br /><br />It will all end in flames, and she will paint a new home somewhere else, where no one can find her.<br /><br />Where no one can see her shame.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:34|Gaofele Doiru (34)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Gao's face drops as the moon starts plummeting. "/That's/ the Witch?!?" he yelps. Looks like they'll have to stop the moon from falling!<br /><br />And speaking of falling...<br /><br />He spots Sailor V, plummeting from where she was being dangled. That height isn't good for falling from, and the water just makes things worse!<br /><br />Gao doesn't bother summoning his quarterstaff back to his hand; instead, he /wills/ the plants to launch him forward! The remnants of his barrier wall comply, shooting him like a crossbow bolt towards the falling Senshi. He catches her in mid-air, curling around her to help keep her safe, even as the magical maple seeds appear, straining to slow the two of them down.<br /><br />The seeds quickly overload and pop out of existence, but not before decelerating the two down to safe speeds over solid ground. Gao rolls with the landing, setting Sailor V down as he stands up. "You okay?" he asks, glancing quickly for signs of serious injury.<br /><br />Satisfied by the lack of major wounds, the forester Knight glares at the moon-Witch. "You unnatural fiend," he growls, summoning his bow once more. "I will not let you desecrate this ground with your rage!"<br /><br />He draws an arrow, the arrowhead a VERDANT EXPLOSION!</span>" Gao lets the arrow fly, aiming to blast the errant moon out of its corrupted sky!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"GOT YOU!"<br /><br />Sailor Mercury yells as she finds the witch. Who is now proceeding to try her kamikaze attack on the labyrinth inside, but Sailor Mercury is having none of it. "Tuxedo Kamen! Sailor V! Aim for the red moon!" She says pointing just before she cup her hands in front of her.<br /><br /><span style="color:xterm33">Shabou Spray!</span><br /><br />The point of light forms in between her hands and she spins around and crosses her arms behind the growing point of light.<br /><br /><span style="color:xterm33">Freeze!</span><br /><br />She sweeps her hands in front of her, making a flurry of bubbles jet towards the moon, and blinding it to attack anyone else.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>This latest offense -- beyond what the hell was that Witch thinking, perversely using the moon to attack?! Attack a SENSHI. This latest offense doesn't leave a lot of room to manuever, but it leaves enough. JUST enough. This time, watching well enough, Tuxedo Kamen can actually see the self destruct coming, and yanks Mercury toward him, taking the full brunt of the force to his back and shielding her with his body.<br /><br />He staggers forward a step and says apologetically as he lets go, "Sorry for the manhandling. And thank you, this is perfect!"<br /><br />It's such a strangely familiar smile -- but he was there helping Sailor Moon when Ami Awakened, wasn't he? The shadows and speed are familiar as well. And then the mystery man hurtles into the air to meet the corrupted red moon as it wings toward them. "Give it all you've got, Sailor V!!" he calls over the wind to the blonde soldier of love and beauty, producing his cane from somewhere within the masses of his cape, going for the acrobatic stab mid-kamikaze.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino/Sailor V was twisting herself around in the air, initially taking up the pose of an olypic diver but then seems to reconsider, contorting her body around the other way so she'll fall feet first once she guesses she's reached terminal velocity. 'Rather break my legs than my neck, because I only got one of those,' she thinks.<br /><br />Luckily, that terrible choice never has to be made as she's plucked out of the air by her new best buddy and all of his helpful plants. Once put down, she flashes a smile and readjusts her mask, then even goes about fixing her hair and adjusting her skirt before she's interrupted by Mercury's and Mask's tactical advice.<br /><br />"Yeah, I'm fine enough for now," she answers before pointing her fingers up towards the sky in the vague direction of the crimson silhouette in the crispy frosty air (and, cheesily enough, waiting for Gao's arrow to impact to get a sense if she's aiming at the right place).<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:45|Hinote Kagari (45)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Guardian Hino manages to get out of the frying pan, and for a moment is already trying to antcipate his next attack. But then the witch shows her true form, and he isn't prepared. The moon crashes down, and though he raises his sword in an attempt to try to shield himself- all the preparation in the world can't prepare him for the moon crashing down.<br /><br />He gets caught in the assault, and ends pushed to the side, completely drained for the time being as he takes a knee... "UGh---t..that's all I got..." he admits as he closes his eyes a moment. He knows when he's had enough. He's shaking from head to toe.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:56|Nephrite (56)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It's hard to say what Rusalka's thoughts are, at the end. It's hard to know if a witch has thoughts at all, thoughts that aren't just meaningless, instinctual reflections of their despair. If she had known she was about to die -- truly die, for the final time -- perhaps she would have thought of him...<br /><br />But a verdant arrow and a blindingly bright beam converge on her before she can even touch her target, and the force of the resulting blast pulverizes her body, leaving nothing but dust where the moon used to be.<br /><br />Well, dust and one other, very important thing.<br /><br />The Labyrinth exists only a few seconds longer than Rusalka, wavering and collapsing in on itself as reality bleeds back through. The twenty victims lie scattered about, all unconscious now. And, on the church's altar, an intricate Grief Seed descends, topped with the lily flower the monster had loved so much.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino/<span style="color:xterm69">Sailor</span> <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">V</span> watches her prize descend to the ground near the altar and gives herself the most vain of smiles. She reaches out towards it but then, seeing the victims unconscious, but no doubt safe and soon about to come to.<br /><br />So instead she waits, subtly realigning herself so she's in the center of the falling dust, her hair and outfit a bright beacon in the weirdly reflective light of the falling dust shower.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>And there it is: it's no use to anyone else, he KNOWS it's no use to anyone but the Puellae Magarum. Tuxedo Kamen tenses as Sailor V reaches out for it, for that precious lily-topped Grief Seed--<br /><br />There's a conflict in him, there. It's brief but real. She could actually be -- her hair is so bright, so long; she stands glittering and softly lit in the slowly drifting dust, otherworldly in her pensive moment. She could be--<br /><br />--she'll be around. But that seed won't be.<br /><br />In an absurdly agile motion, the man in the glimmering white mask gathers his stardusted black cloak and leaps silently overhead, letting go as he lands in a crouch on the altar, the cape billowing out around him.<br /><br />Then he's off like a shot again, silk against silk like a pennant in the breeze, and the altar is bereft of its latest touch of magic. Tuxedo Mask is gone with the Grief Seed.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:34|Gaofele Doiru (34)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>As reality reasserts itself, Gao looks around. The victims that had been pulled into the Labrinth appear to be exhausted, but otherwise none the worse for the wear -- even the mother that had been pulled underwater.<br /><br />Speaking of underwater...<br /><br />Gao walks over to Hinote, offering his fellow Knight a hand to help him to his feet. "And you fought one of these /without magic?/" the forester says, his voice a mix of incredulity and increased respect. "Well done!"<br /><br />He looks around... Rune said something about a Grief Seed, right? There it is!-- and there it goes, swiped by the tuxedo-clad stranger.<br /><br />Gao frowns. "I hope that guy knows what he's doing," he murmurs, not wanting to have to fight that Witch again, allies or no.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Minako Aino (40)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Minako Aino reaches her hand out expectantly. There's a long pause, followed by, "Hey, you're... you're going the wrong way-- hey!", then a frown so big no mask of any size could hide it.<br> <br>
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