1105/What's An Earth Kingdom, Anyways

What's An Earth Kingdom, Anyways
Date of Scene:	11 February 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Takashi comes to Mamoru with Questions about stuff Beryl told him. Mamoru answers. Taka is his bro, after all.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Mamoru Chiba
Tinyplot:	Rainbow Crystals

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Takashi Agera has posed:
    Beryl had given Takashi a Black Crystal with which to find the Seven Rainbow Crystals. She had told him... honestly, very little. But there was a few things she spoke of that really pulled his attention. Lost kingdoms, a time before time, all of that. He didn't expect her to be entirely forthcoming with information, but he knew someone she might have been more open with, someone who might possibly know more. And that someone had been on him to come by and talk more often, and yet they really hadn't - even as Takashi was occasionally bringing what lab equipment he could keep in his room without arousing *too much* suspicion.

    This is why Takashi is knocking on Mamoru's door, expecting the boy might possibly be in. Sure, he could have texted, but that kind of defeats the purpose of coming over and meeting face to face, right? Don't be an impersonal stranger.

    In his hand - the same one doing the knocking, even, and not hidden at all - is a slender black crystal. It's not the Black Crystal though - when he'd taken possession of it temporarily from Sunbreaker, she'd mentioned Beryl might possibly be able to track it, and he didn't want to lead her to Mamoru or anything. What he had in his hand was instead a replica made by Sunbreaker - something to demonstrate, to gauge reactions, and the like.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Good thing for Mamoru it's not THE Black Crystal; he's got the red rainbow crystal on him, and definitely has to figure out a better place for the thing than his pocket, since it wouldn't stay in his henshin. He is in his room, though, and when he opens the door...

...the look of utter delight on his face is absolutely real, a gut-level reaction. "Takashi!"

No joke, immediate hug. Immediate.

Then the door's open wider and Mamoru steps aside. "Come in come in! I know you're busy but I'm really happy to see you not wildly worried or injured, you know?"

He looks the same as he did the last time Takashi saw him, at the meeting in the empty classroom, except he's sock-footed. So much healthier and less eternally somewhat pinched, comfortable in his own skin.

Mamoru has no reaction to the crystal until the door's closed, and when he does, it's just a glance over it. "I'm assuming that's not from a mall kiosk. Do you want a can of coffee?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi laughs and then that laugh turns into a startled expeling of air when he's hugged by his adopted brother. He should have expected it. And he does look better than Takashi remembers him looking when he was working in the same building, much to his slight chagrin. "You're acting more like the you that I remember, at least." He says with a smile.

    "I'm always busy, I've been busy for a year solid now, but I should be better about making time." he says. "Hopefully the people around me will stop having their own versions of life or death crises and I can actually get down to research again but... anyways, that's actually not why I'm here. Not entirely." he says. "Partly it's just been too long. Like, so long you've forgotten I don't drink coffee." he says with a grin. "Though I know politeness commands you to offer anyways."

    "Not from a mall kiosk, though, no. From your old boss - who, by the way, is not being nearly as bad to me as she seemed to be to you. But maybe she doesn't want to run off a fifth handsome guy from Obsidian, the other ladies must be pissed about that." he says. "But I thought you might know more about it, and the 'Rainbow Crystals', than she told me. Also maybe about the kingdoms on the Earth and Moon she was alluding to but not very detailed about, like she expected me to know - I'm assuming, because you and the other guys did or do know."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Good thing he is acting like Takashi remembers-- there'd been some concern over Hematite turning into an idealized version of himself or something when Usagi resurrected-ish him. But this is just Mamoru without the dark energy.

"Yeah, and I don't have anything else right now," Mamoru says sheepishly, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. "Sorry. We're going shopping tomorrow..."

That's not the point either though. He swings his desk chair around and gestures to it carelessly before seating himself on the edge of his bed, still looking up at Takashi unless and until the other boy sits down.

And then Takashi mentions Beryl, and Mamoru gets a complicated expression. There's distaste in equal measure with fear, but it's not fear of Takashi even if his gaze slides back to the crystal for a second. "I'm glad she's not mistreating you," he says as he looks to Takashi's face again, more subdued. "I'm sorry you have to work with her, though, given her goals and yours."

Then he takes a breath and lets it out slowly. "I do know some stuff about the Rainbow Crystals. What they're for, what the Dark Kingdom did to them, why they came to be. And I know a lot about the Golden Kingdom, the kingdom of Earth. And I know a fair amount about the Moon Kingdom, and the empire it was part of, Silver Millennium. Sailor Moon knows more. Sailor Pluto might know the most. But I'm-- well, the Shitennou and I are-- who to talk to about ancient Earth. Remember when I was freaking out because Beryl was looking for a prince? And remember I said I was that prince and that she burned the world to try and get me?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi does, basically flop into the offered chair. It's a marked difference from the way Mamoru often moves, and frankly the way Takashi moves around most other people. It's full of an exhaustion and stress he usually hides, the way he almost collapses into the desk chair and almost half (figuratively) oozes out of it.

    He's still very expressive with his hands though, as they talk. "Nobody has my goals, really. It's always a sort of mutual getting what we can out of the other. She's giving me a lot of freedom to work at least." he says. "But that difference in goals is part of why I'm here. I mean it doesn't take a genius to figure out we probably do not want her getting her hands on all seven or anything. So I certainly have that awareness. Maybe it'd be nice to know how much I can give to her though because I hate looking entirely incompetent. Right now Sunbreaker and I are aligned on the fact that we need to play keep-away with at least one - she told Sunbreaker about this too, but she's about as skeptical of Obsidian leadership as I am, if not moreso."

    But then Takashi leans forward at the rest. "I don't think Sailor Moon particularly wants to be fully forthcoming and talk to me, so I'll settle for knowing about the Earth. But are you gonna sit here and tell me that there is 1) a secret magic royal family of the whole planet and 2) they abandoned or lost their kid and he ended up in a podunk orphanage in Tokyo's inner city?" He asks, sounding... more than a little skeptical. "

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Fair," is what Mamoru says about 'all seven or anything'; it's the last part that he actually starts laughing at. "No, no. Reincarnation. I just-- I just remember it all. Including dying."

Mamoru rubs his hands down his face and takes a deep breath, then explains, "She used the power granted to her by a demon from the sun -- Metalia -- to control what was left of the Earth's population as she had them burn the cities to fuel the thing. If she ever talks about the Great Leader, she's talking about that demon, which doesn't have enough energy to fully awaken and cause a repeat."

He pauses. "Well. A partial repeat. It wasn't just Earth she destroyed, after all. I'm unclear on what happened aside from archaic DNA indicating there was a massive genetic bottleneck afterwards, so there were obviously enough survivors to repopulate the planet over time. But that's all just modern research. There were kingdoms on the other planets too -- physically on their moons, or domed, or both... everyone died. They can't die again, there's no life. But I'm pretty fond of this planet."

He pauses, looking at the floor between them for a second, eyes unfocused, and then he looks up again, pulling himself out of his memories. "The kingdom's long gone. Monarchy doesn't work consistently, and certainly not in the modern day. But my family-- back then-- was tasked with keeping the magical heart of the world safe. It's obviously not the origin of all magic on Earth but it's the source of... a lot. It intersects with dreams. It's..." He puts a hand over his heart. "It's linked to my soul. Literally. I doubt that after fourteen thousand years there's still anyone living there, but there might be some sort of genius loci that guards it or something. I spent a lot of my childhood there, but I didn't see what happened to it at the end of the world, because I was busy getting run through with Beryl's sword because I was trying to stop her from killing the Moon Princess."

Mamoru lifts a hand. "But! Beryl told me as Hematite that there were priests of the Golden Kingdom that locked the surface-side entrances to that place, then split the magical key into seven crystals. Somehow she got her hands on them but they wouldn't work for her, because the magic rejected her, so she cursed them all with powerful youma that would possess whoever touched them."

Finally, he looks wry. "Obviously, I'd like to get back there-- but even if I did have all the pieces of the key, I don't know if the sealed doors still exist, or what shape they're in... and I'd vastly prefer not getting in to allowing her to come anywhere near it. Ideally, she wouldn't get her hands on any of the crystals, but I understand not wanting to appear incompetent."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi leans back and just listens to... all of that. "You know I'd have to call you crazy if I didn't do things that broke the laws of science and reality on a daily basis, right?" he asks, sighing. "That's a lot to take in. More questions than answers, but that's how these things always go, isn't it?" he asks, shrugging.

    He scoots back to a sort of upright position in the chair. "I'd suggest you also add keeping her away from the entrances to your to-do list. Just because there's seven magic keyparts and all of that, doesn't mean that's the only way in. Doors can be broken through or gone around in addition to just unlocked. So can metaphorical magic doors that are actually arcane seals. If someone can make them... someone can UN make them. Or forge a key. Or any number of things." He says. And then pauses. "Sorry if that doesn't make you feel any better about it. First thing is avoiding the easy way in, the key, then we can worry about the rest." he says.

    He's still processing it, that was A Lot, and pauses. "So assuming I take all of that at face value - which frankly, that's a big assumption - it begs a lot of questions like why is life only here? If the other planets had people, are they back here too? Is everybody just going through a soul-recycling process? Lots of religions tend to believe in it, so it's got some grounding. But also begs the question if like, your roomate is also an old soul, just not the same level of drama."

    "The youma part at least matches what I was told. This crystal is supposed to let me control them." He says, holding it up and acting as though for all intents and purposes it's the real thing, for now. "And obviously if you go there and don't show me around the magic kingdom, so to speak, I'm going to be terribly annoyed."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"If I ever end up getting to go there, obviously I'll show you around," Mamoru says, exaggeratedly mock-offended, hand over his heart again but this time in 'oh my!!' fake shock. He grins. "It's undoubtedly ruins, but ruins are cool."

A deep breath, and a full exhalation that isn't quite a sigh, and Mamoru leans forward a bit with his elbows on his knees, hands loosely clasped in front of him. "So far as I know, people from other planets who were around then came back here. So they're all of Earth now, even if they weren't before." A beat. "You may have noticed that the Sailor Senshi have planet names..."

Finally, a crooked smile. "I'm not sure where the doors are. Once I was old enough to teleport, I never used them to enter. I can't do that now. And I'm not a lucid dreamer in this life yet, so I can't get in that way either. Presumably Beryl's already tried those ways-- if she could ever use them in the first place. So, yeah, finding the doors will eventually be a project too."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "I want you to know, I'd be calling a lot more bullshit on this if I hadn't spent an afternoon as a four legged equine visiting Sunbreaker's world and can now verify all of that unicorn nonsense. Apparently while the rules as I understood our world are at least taken as a suggestion here by 'norma1' reality, there are places where local reality doesn't even try." he says. "Be that as it may be, I'm still also fond of this planet, regardless if it has some sort of magical linker core that's connected to your linker core, or not. All of my stuff is here and my friends and family are here." he says. "And all of the pretty girls, too."

    "You know, if it wasn't for Moon, I'd not have necessarily assumed they were planets; Pluto was calling out her attack on me as related to Death, and that makes me think more of an incarnations of the deity Pluto than a planet. Guess that's what we get for naming planets after mythology."

    "...So is there a Sailor Earth, or is that you? Cause I'm not entirely sure I can see you in a skirt fuku. I've seen some rough choices for Sparkleskirt outfits, but that would be pretty high up there. Unless that's your jam in which case you know, whatever."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Skirts aren't my jam," Mamoru confirms, very lightly kicking Takashi's foot and grinning. "You know that. I mean sometimes they're Zoisite's jam, but you know that too." A little sigh. "I don't know for sure, but I'm almost certainly at least the non-fuku equivalent of Sailor Earth, given the givens."

There's a faint smile. "It makes sense, given that the Moon Kingdom's actual goal for Earth was protecting it from outside threats, and given how often Sailor Moon has princess carried me."

A beat. "My only mythology is the moon falling in love with me. I'm Endymion, which is why I'm the prettiest."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi grins back. "Well yeah, if I thought they were your jam I wouldn't have said anything at all about it. And let's be fair, Zoisite looks far better than either of us would in a skirt so there's a reason they're his jam and not ours." Takashi adds, nodding sagely.

    And then Takashi pauses and looks down. "Well, if it's your role to protect the earth backed by Sailor I've Got A Spherical Pocket Nuke, I really hope you don't buy into that nonsense about there being absolutely no possible way to use Dark Energy positively." he says, his tone a little bit quieter. "It's hard enough with you on the opposite side, but we both know where each other's hearts are at... I hope." he says.

    "Like, it sounds as though this Golden Kingdom is connected to you, to your very being. So maybe you can understand me a little better - you never really connected with the Dusk Zone at all, your linker core refused it, but I always have. It might be as linked to me as your heart of gold is."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I know your heart is good. I worry about you, but not any more than I worried about you before," Mamoru tells Takashi honestly. "And you've always taken such good care of Hotaru-- and you've made life so much better for Norie, and Fate-- you're a much better big brother than I am. And I know you've been connected to dark energy and the dusk zone since we were kids, don't worry, I remember."

He sits up, too, and he looks so earnest. That's not something he had when Takashi met him all those years ago-- it's something he hid. And then it was something he let Takashi see, and something he let the smaller kids see...

...probably a lot of people see it now; it fits his face.

"It makes sense that you'd have a connection like that. I mean we've both had at least a little magic forever, and that's-- that's apparently not common at all. I might have to oppose you sometimes. Like, despite how much I love you and I don't want you to have to face Beryl's punishments, I'm going after the Rainbow Crystals. I don't just want her to not have them... I want to go home."

Sigh. "But I really don't want you to have to face those punishments. They're... really bad. I mean, Precia put you through a table, but Beryl's pretty good at torture. So maybe if she trusts you enough, any you can get you can just 'keep in a safe place' or something."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi chews on his inner cheek for a moment as he listens. And he, too, is earnest. "In the end you have to do what you think is right for you." He says. "I mean, I certainly am. No matter how much you and Beryl want these, right now I don't think it suits me for anyone to have all seven." he says, bluntly. "I've been trying to keep the status quo, you know, for a while. I don't have enough information about these, about any of this. There's so many unknowns, and all of these things are moving around me. I have been lurching from one crisis to another - for months. And I need everything to stop long enough for me to resolve what's already going on."

    "But instead things are just escalating. Now there's past lives and other planets to think of and I haven't had time to just sit down and figure out problems that have been with me for months. It's pproblems, giant piles of infomation, places I need to interpose myself... one after another." he says.

    "So don't take this the wrong way but I don't really want you to go home to some sort of place of magical core power and dreams. Not while you're taking that mantle of the protector of Earth. That puts another thing on my plate." he says. "Because when people like you and your friends talk about protecting earth, there's generally an unsaid 'from people like me' - even if you don't, who knows how it's connected to the others, to Jadeite and Zoisite and Nephrite and that great-value version of me you've apparently recruited..." he notes, since he hasn't had a chance to bring that up.

    "And of course if Beryl gets them she's going to cause some world ending crisis. So... I'm going to be honest. If I get one I am very seriously considering shattering it to just buy myself some more time from both of you. Maybe then everything will calm down long enough for me to figure some stuff out. And eventually I'll put the thing back together."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Eh like I said before," Mamoru says, waving a hand around-- he was obviously listening for all of it, but he's firm about this at the end, "I'd rather nobody had all of them than that she gets them. So don't worry, we're in agreement on that. Getting to go home is a dream: I'd love it, but it's not as important as preventing the destruction of our planet, where all our stuff is."

Then he sighs. "I don't have a choice about the mantle mantle. And we are both trying to prevent apocalypses, and I won't forget that."

He pauses expectantly, then prompts, "Mantle mantle. Linker... core."

Obviously past lives are real, because Mamoru is Takashi's punishment for his past life's sins.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi facepalms. And then slowly pulls the hand down his face. But he's also smiling, once his hand passes and his lips are visible. "And people tell me I'm insufferable." he says, but his tone is upbeat

    "You know, I don't even know what your henshin is now. And that's probably a good thing, I don't want to know, because it means Beryl or Metallia or whatever can't drag it out of my head. Obviously too late to not know your civilian name, but that's by a decade or so." He says.

    "So basically, if I blast you through a wall or something, my bad, I truly didn't know. But I wouldn't worry too much about me, I'm stronger than I used to be and I still have good friends on the Cool Kids side of the divide. Good, powerful friends. So I wouldn't... hold back in your shoes, if you end up fighting me. That's what I'm really trying to say. It's not safe for you or your friends to do so."

    "Plus it makes for terrible experimental conditions if someone isn't taking it seriously."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Fair enough. And besides, even if somehow I manage to put *you* through a wall -- which is doubtful, if I'm honest, but somebody might -- just tell me if you get really hurt, later, and I'll fix it," Mamoru says seriously. "If I could just stay Mamoru Chiba, Radiant Heart's MSF Rep, I'd infinitely prefer that. Oh!"

Not so serious, but maybe a little serious, a little, "Super curious. I saw Yuuhi-san flip out on a mascot in an alley and threaten to kill her. The mascot I mean. Has Yuuhi been on a rampage? I'm just looking for gossip since she's usually on such an even keel..."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi laughs. "Yeah, I can see it now, you can kick my ass and then heal me from your own asskicking." he says. "I guess that's one way to make sure we see each other more. Though hopefully I'll have Hotaru back at a functional space soon." he says.

    "Yuuhi-san? Yeah she's... been kind of on a tear. I don't know what's got her riled up, but somebody beat the wrong bear with a very big stick." He says, shrugging. "I wish I knew what got her so mad, so I knew not to do it. And convince people I didn't like in the company to do it." He admits.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm pretty sure it was the mascot. Like literally, she was out joking with a friend of hers until that mascot showed up and then she lost her shit. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time -- talk about awkward. But, so, okay, as long as she's just in murderous email mode instead of murder mode-- I'll let you know if I hear anything more about what the mascot did."

Mamoru cracks his knuckles and grins. "Anyway, yeah, of course I'd kick your ass and then heal it later. I mean, as long as I can still walk. I fix me first." A beat. "And... I already promised Hotaru I'd heal her if she needed it, too, if she's at a point she can't heal herself. That holds true. You can always bug me for that, day or night, okay? She's such a sweetheart, and so brave."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "I mean I don't think it would take much to tip her into actually launching people out the window mode, but thankfully she's HR so people don't poke her like they might another person at her tier, when she's mad." Takashi says about Fuuyuko.

    Then he pauses. "She's also terrifying. Hotaru-chan, I mean. Or whatever she's holding inside. I'm glad it looks like we'll be able to keep it restrained, but I'm not sure if I should file that under 'my friends having life-or-death crisises' or 'potential apocalypse'... probably both really." he says.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Both," says Mamoru firmly, and then his phone buzzes. "Oh dammit," he says when he takes it out, getting up, looking at it. "I forgot it's date night, I gotta get ready-- I mean Kazuo date night, not Usagi date night--"

He flusters over to his closet. "I need at least a clean t-shirt! God do I have any--"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi laughs. "You have too many date nights. You should try having fewer but more impactful dates, you know? It's really time-efficent, and it creates the memories she can brag about." Takashi suggests. "But you look frazzled enough - I'll see you again soon. Sooner than the last time I said that, ne?" he says, slowly letting himself out as Mamoru disassembles his closet in a can of flusternado.