1419/Requiem of the Nightmare

Requiem of the Nightmare
Date of Scene:	01 April 2024
Location:	Throne Room of the Panthalassa
Synopsis:	It's the conclusion to the nightmare brought on by Gaito. Sailor Moon can now rest at ease, and Aqua Regina appeared to answer some important questions.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Cho Konishi, Madoka Kaname, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust, Mamoru Chiba, Erika Shimizu, Makoto Kino
Tinyplot:	Usagi's Abyssal Nightmare

---

Coco Kiumi has posed:
In the dim, ethereal glow of twin candelabra, the grand doorway looms like a sentinel in the depths of the palace, its marble facade adorned with intricate roses, each petal dancing in the flickering light. As the newcomers' shadows stretch across its expanse, the door stands silent, its gilded panelling standing out amidst the marble.

With a gentle push, the door yields to reveal a vast arcade, a symphony of marble and gold unfolding in the quiet expanse. Three aisles stretch into the distance, flanked by columns adorned with delicate floral motifs and sinuous vines, their intricate carvings proof of bygone opulence.

Etched upon the floor lies a cross adorned with two prominent arrowheads extending gracefully toward the ends of its arms, the crest of the Panthalassa, a gleaming emblem amidst a sea of cobalt blue, its golden hues echoing the opulence of the chamber. Guided by the gilded path around that blue floor, one's gaze is drawn toward the apse, where the ceiling unfurls like a blue canopy punctuated by golden spheres that cast a celestial glow upon the scene below.

At the heart of the apse, a throne of regal blue rises majestically, its lofty backrest reaching towards the emerald roof of the stone, watched over by painted arches in the twin walls behind. Beside it, a solitary pillar jealously holds a tiara on a regal crimson cushion, its gemless form an empty promise of future vengeance.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The candles gently flicker at the approach of the group of mahous, their shadows barely perceptible under the flames' weak light upon the palace's walls. Tension grips Coco's heart as she looks at the door that close the passage to Gaito's throne room. They really made it all the way here, and this entire ordeal is close to an end, with the last obstacle just waiting behind these doors.

They have been allowed a brief reprieve after the last battle with the Black Beauty Sisters, and with a slight push from Coco the door opens towards the interior of the throne room. Once everyone enters, they see Gaito, sitting upon his throne, a mocking smile on his face, his rose scepter in one hand, as the Silver Crystal lollipop bounces in his other.

The heir of the Panthalassa rises, the lower cape fluttering behind him, as he regards everyone present with a glance before addressing the entirery of the group. "Welcome, you are very brave, all of you. My apologies for the dark, but it's all Aqua Regina's fault. She trapped us in this abyss and now you too have to pay the consequences..."

He places the lollipop on the armrest of his throne and starts walking towards the group with the confidence of someone who is dictating the terms of this encounter. "But you are probably very tired after coming this far, so please avail yourself of the hospitality of my palace, we have all the time in the world."

A light snicker echoes in the walls as his attention is focused on Coco. "And of course, the princess of the South Pacific. How regrettable that you left the care of my palace. After Sara went through all that trouble to invite you here. But it's pleasant to see you willing walk back to me, and with the Sealing Key too. I severely felt both your and its absence."

Coco shakes her head as she grips the Sealing Key Rod tighter. "We aren't here for pleasantries, Gaito. Just the lollipop you have, and Sara too. Where is she? She shouldn't stay down here, with you feeding on her grief."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong blinked a few times and stared. Then, with a low, despair filled voice...

"Oh no, he's hot..." she whispered. What? Her enemy was the white bone demon! A monstrous demon who possessed and attacked other people! In comparison, this guy was a dream boat! It wasn't her fault (it totally was), don't blame her (you probably should). Then she squeaked. "P-please don't tell Yaling-chan I said that! Or anybody, for that matter! S-sorry, Coco-chan!"

Worst. Roommate. Ever.

She then stomped her staff down on the ground, glaring. "Listen here, Gaito, you big stupid dork! You can't keep attacking Sailor Moon like this! She's nice! A thousand times nicer than you! So turn over the-- Oh forget it!" Cure Wukong yelled before she leaped at Gaito, kicking off the ground and swinging her staff down at his head! Did she expect it to connect?

Gosh no. This was a final boss battle. But she was immortal and figured it'd be a good distraction for the others t oget into their positions.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Oh wow! A real villains lair! This is the first time that Lydian has seen the inside of one for real. The tiny art fairy swims around Hope Blossom and tugs excitedly at her Bearer's sleeve while pointing. "Look, Hope-chan. He's got a throne and a rose scepter and mood lighting and everything!"

    "Settle down, Lydian," chides Madoka. "This is a serious moment." The Chara Bearer is approaching this moment with a bit more trepidation as she cautiously floats through the doors. This is Final Boss time, against someone she's not terribly familiar with. The pinkette glances around at all of their friends who have come along with them. "No losses," she mutters. "I won't allow it."

    Then Hope Blossom overhears Cho's comment and gives her an exasperated look. I mean, yeah, she's not wrong, but you don't have to say it.

    As Wukong leaps into battle, Madoka starts to panic and immediately draws her bow, releasing a pink magic arrow directly at Gaito as a follow up attack. She just said no losses, but... well Wukong can't die so that's not really an issue, right?

    Oh geeze...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The break between battles was necessary, because two fights and like, five Escalations in, and Sailor Moon is exhausted. She's been exhausted for months, and this whole mess is only making her more so.

Still, when they walk in, and see Gaito sitting there on his throne, with a Silver Crystal Lollipop of all things in hand?

Steam practically boils from Sailor Moon's head.

"Ae you kidding me?!" She's louder than Cure Wukong's ashamed oh no he's hot by far. "You stole a lollipop?! That shouldn't even count as a possession, you jerk, they're trash once they hit the ground!"

You can't eat ground candy! She would know! Her mother taught her!

She thrusts a hand out, red gloves catching the light. "Kamen-kun, lollipop me."

Because she can always trust Mamochan to carry a lollipop at all times. They were his favorite flavor, after all.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    This is... familiar.

    How many times did Amy's fingers move a party of heroes into the evil leader's castle?

    She pulls herself out of getting lost in her head again as Gaito speaks, eyes languidly rising to see him. At the same time as Cure Wukong shouts about Gaito's appearance, Amy shouts in surprise, "It's a KID?!" She, too, stares. But, after a moment, she composes herself. She knows all too well appearances can be deceiving.

    After Coco speaks, she does again. "You should've found a way to make the candles light up in sequence from the door to your throne, finally illuminating you. Would've been cooler."

    And then what Coco said clicks in her head and she looks at the mermaid princess, surprised. "It's the lollipop?!"

    She takes a breath and looks back to Gaito. "If you don't like the darkness, I can help you out." She summons her launcher but doesn't point it at him, firing projectiles around the room which break into clusters of burning flares.

    Aaaand Wukong is already on the attack. "So we just need to destroy the lollipop, right?" Amy observes to the others. "It can't be as tough as he is... wait, why hasn't it dissolved underwater?" she furrows her brow as she considers Gaito may have made it harder to destroy...

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
With the debriefing done -- mostly Mamoru sheepishly rejoining the others for the brief respite, after being off contending with a water demon while they were fighting the sisters -- Tuxedo Kamen swims up abreast of Sailor Moon. She's starting to ask and he's starting to move, already, producing his hat and reaching in. He takes out another silver crystal lollipop, wordlessly handing it over to Sailor Moon with his eyebrows up.

"I don't like his sceptre," he confides. "It feels like copyright violation or something. I don't like his robe either."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Into the belly of the beast.
    But this is a villain's lair not the stomach of a great leviathan. Nevertheless Erika Shimizu promised Coco she'd help out on a moment's notice and now here she is; the pirate themed mahou, JOLLY ROGER stands amongst the assembled heroes facing Gaito down.
    "Har, the lass be right, we ain't here for pleasantries nor parlay." She says echoing Coco, while...
    She's strumming lightly on a shamisen.
    Do not ask where the pirate got a shamisen, but somehow, despite it being a very Japanese instrument...
    She's strumming dramatic mariachi chords with it as the party enters the final boss chambers.
    Dramatic mariachi chords always make everything cooler.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter is, honestly, kind of over this whole situation by now, what with the time and effort it took to get here in the first place. She shoots Gaito a narrow-eyed, unimpressed glare from over Sailor Moon's head. "Right on cue, blaming everyone else for decisions you made yourself. Is that just a dark energy thing or what?"

She's not expecting an answer, and doesn't wait for one. Deep pink roses are already blooming in both hands, and she rises, a fast current spiraling around her. "Flower Hurricane!"

Petals scatter and flurry, barraging Gaito with color and fragrance. Distraction. Impediment. They just have to get the lollipop, right?

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Was Yaling the girl Cho danced with? Coco never really confirmed who the adressee of the letter she wrote for Cho was (why Wuwu was that cagey was a mistery for the ages), but she is certainly glad that the prom went well for the two of them. They were adorable together. Though, telling or not telling Yaling is not the issue here. Rather the fact she is attracted by her enemy is. "Be careful, Wukong. Gaito is not the type to waste time", she reminds her roommate.

"Legend of Mermaid: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!", Coco exclaims as usual after the Live Stage appears around the mermaid princess, her purifying voice singing of a nostalgic melody, with stars that like pearls start releasing a wondrous light, a miracle filled adventure like the kind mother wishes for everyone in her heart. Gaito however just snorts, not at all affected by the melody. "What do you hope to accomplish with only one of you princesses?"

"It's never too late to join my Dark Lovers", he mockingly offers to Cho in response, not expecting her to seriously consider it nor bothering to tell her that he really only has eyes for Sara, so the name is really not indicative. He doesn't even bother much with Wukong's attack. He just lifts a hand and blocks it with a dark energy pulse.

Madoka's arrow is just caught in Gaito's hand as it gets coated in dark energy, before the man drops it to the ground.

"Is that so?", Gaito replies over Sailor Moon's objection. "This lollipop is clearly tied to someone special to you, so I am definitely grateful for Queen Beryl's cooperation on its acquisition." He can't really ascertain who that is or what he means to her, but that is unnecessary as long as they mean something to her for the lollipop's function.

Amy's comment unnerves him instead. "It's a kid, says the girl that still has a long way from finishing school. Go complain to Aqua Regina if you wanted someone else. Maybe she shouldn't have disposed of everyone from my clan, or sealed me here since my birth."

But it's really Jupiter that has his attention. "Don't speak of things you just don't know", he snarls, pure dark energy appearing in his hand and heading towards Jupiter in the form of thunderbolt, even dispersing her Flower Hurricane.

"Copyright violation? Why, have you produced an actual musical composition?", he grins at Mamoru. "Dark Rose Requiem", Gaito declares a sinister melody playing out of nowhere as he waves his scepter like a conductor's baton, thorny vines with roses appearing in mid air, catching and neutralising all of Amy's missiles and trying to get everyone there in their grasps.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong gave a light squeak when he just deflected her blow. Well, it wasn't thhat she didn't expect that. She did. It was mroe just a bit shocking that he did it so easily. Right. Final boss time. She needed to remember that before she died. For real. Fortunately, EVERYONE was attacking him. "Yeah, I'm a fighter, not a lover!" She then dropped down onto her hands, her tail catching her staff. She then spun, attempting to kick the bottom of his scepter!

"Besides, I've never really been the biggest fan of big dumb JERKS!" she yelled, before her tail tried to bonk him with the stick. "And Coco's song is WAY better than--"

She let out a pained shriek when one of the vines get her arm, yanking her off balance and making her crash to the ground. "Let me GO!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    A kid? Madoka glances at Amy. "It's funny. To you he looks young, but you look younger than him." Not that she really has time to go into that right now.

    Lydian, meanwhile, is going starry eyed at Erika's mariachi performance. "See, Blossom? Aesthetics! Pirate girl get it!"

    Blossom, meanwhile, is focused on other things. Such as the fact that her arrow was caught and covered in darkness. After a moment the arrow poofs out of existence, which is probably a good thing considering what this guy's magic considers to be a 'possession'.

    Vines appear all over the place, clearly at Gaito's command, and Blossom is already swimming upward. One of them wraps around her leg and starts to drag her around, causing her to doggy paddle in a panic. Lydian swims up to the capturing vine and pulls, trying with all of her tiny fairy might to pry it loose.

    Madoka aims her next arrow downward, which splits into a spreadfire of explosive pink, covering the area around her and destroying many of the small vines. The next spread of arrows is fired at Gaito. Madoka wonders if he can catch like 20 at once.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You don't understand," Tuxedo Kamen says with truly obnoxious good cheer as he leaps up and away, putting his hat back on his head as he swims, "but it's because you're a loser, it's fine. I'm talking about the vague look of you, and your roses, and now the lollipop-- you're like a bootleg knockoff. Does trademark sit better with you?"

He dodges between climbing thorny rose vines and pulls out a rose in each hand, then, using one to cut his way through vines that come too close, and using the other to throw at the rose sceptre itself, trying to break it or at least see how far he can get.

When the vines come at him from the back and clutch at his cape, snagging it and pulling, Tuxedo Kamen just... takes the cape off. He also vanishes his hat for safekeeping.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The song is nice. If only everyone could have a miraculous adventure! The song brings to mind a pleasant memory of the mood Mallory felt, years ago, watching a popular anime at the time, and its opening song. It's an adventure, isn't it, isn't it?

    Gaito tries to counter Amy's accidental sass, and his words reach into a mass of anxieties and confusion she can't process in the middle of a fight, so she just laughs, madly.

    "You're the one trying to gather a harem of Dark Lovers while torturing my friend. If you want sympathy, stop, surrender, and let us help you. Until then--"

    Excuse her, what?! Getting grabbed by vines?! "No, no," she frowns slightly, "not cool buddy!"

    The restriction bothers her more than the thorns. She struggles against the vines for a second or two, growls and frowns more, then switches to a smaller rocket launcher firing smaller rockets which break apart into burning material where they hit, trying to burn the bases of vines grabbing her friends (or at least burn any vines that try to grab the missiles.)

    She's kind of busy, so any thought of explaining her confusion to Madoka is kind of lost in the shuffle. It's not so much relative age to her, given everyone here, as it is that for some reason she just pictured Gaito as older! Maybe because of all those videogame bad guys, she did reference Magus's castle earlier.

Makoto Kino has posed:
The dark thunderbolt burns right through the Flower Hurricane like a knife through butter, forcing Sailor Jupiter to launch herself diagonally higher to throw herself clear of its path. She's left with a frown darkening her face - one that turns to a scowl when he begins summoning those vines.

Talk about a copyright violation.

"Oh, please!" she calls back. It seemed like she hit a nerve a second ago, and she's entirely willing to hammer at it. "I swear I've heard the same thing from every two-bit wannabe dark lord who's managed to slap together a youma out there. 'It's all their fault I'm doing this.' 'Why don't people just let me take all their stuff?' 'Wah wah wah!'"

She cocks back an arm, energy sparking down her forearm to her fist. "But since it seems like you wanna play with lightning--!"

In a single powerful motion she thrusts her arm forward, releasing a fistful of crackling white-hot threads at Gaito.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    This is already not going so hot.
    Though Yellow Pearl Voice begins to sing, it looks like ther mermaid princess' magical song and wondrous melody doesn't seem to affect the Panthalassan. And then there's the fact that he's negating most of the attacks thrown at him...
    Now. Erika ponders for a beat. She could draw steel and let loose, and risk her powderballs and cutlass be batted aside... Or...
    The diminutive pirate-themed mahou looks to Yellow Pearl Voice for a moment. Green eyes squeeze closed tight. She opens them in time to start weaving through the thorny vines, dodging and swerving as best she can as she continues to... Strum on her shamisen.
    But it's no longer dramatic mariachi chords for the sake of dramatics. It's an actual tune in a somber key as the pirate mahou lifts her voice in song to join Yellow Pearl Voice.
    He singing isn't magical. There's no special spark in her voice.
    But the girl starts to sing her heart out in hopes of reaching out to the other magical warriors of love, justice, and to help inspire them, and the mermaid princess.

    "Man, it's your time, shake up your body and soul,
    We'll tame the waves together, choi!
    Ya sa e en ya! Saa no dokkoi sho! Haa heave ho! Dokkoi sho!
    Yaren soran soran soran soran!
    Hai hai!

    Dream on a silk pillow just for tonight,
    It's gonna be a rough ride once aboard, choi!
    Ya sa e en ya! Saa no dokkoi sho!

    Though the waves may pound and knock ye about...
    We mahou 've got the guts and the pride, choi!
    Ya sa e en ya! Saa no dokkoi sho!

    Wave after wave what next may come...
    Is but a test of courage for we mahou, choi!
    Ya sa e en ya! Saa no dokkoi sho!
    Heave ho, dokkoi sho!"

    Of course it's a sea shanty. What else would it be from the pirate, but Japan's oldest and most well known sea shanty.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The lollipop is accepted and put in Sailor Moon's mouth promptly. It seems she is indeed taking a candy break, as she glowers at Gaito. She's not going to admit that of course these candies are gifts from important people - her cousin invented them, her boyfriend gives them to her near-daily, the nurse, her Senshi, gives them to her as a treat -

So instead she raises a hand and flips him off, before grabbing her Moon Stick.

"You're the worse - so why don't you taste something sweeter than the nonsense you're spewing?"

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

And silver beams fly towards Gaito.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Mamoru's trademark comment only really serves to confuse Gaito more than anything. "Did you hit your head on the way in? This has been the Panthalassa's royal garb for centuries. You should check again if your supposed trademark on roses wasn't just a way to swindle you out of your money though." He doesn't even bother doing anything when Mamoru's rose hits his scepter, the dark energies coursing through it protecting it. "Clearly an inferior product", he laughs.

"Wukong!", Coco exclaims with worry when Cho crashes, switching approach and materialising Live Stages to batter the rose vines enough to try and get them to just let Cho go. "Worried about your friend?" Gaito addresses her when the rose vines break down and then reform as if nothing happened. "Just surrender to me and I can let all of them go", he offers.

"So what?" the mermaid counters. "So you cam just attack the surface anyway! I am not going to be captive again, and none of us will fail here!" She says that, but she too gets grappled by those vines and yanked out of the Live Stage.

While the vines Hope Blossom aimed for are all destroyed by her explosive pink, a success can't be said about the ones she fires towards Gaito. They do score a hit, each of them bouncing the Panthalassa back, but none of them seem to actually hurt him.

"I don't want sympathy", Gaito scowls at Amy. "I just want revenge on Aqua Regina for only making me know solitude and misery ever since I have been able to remember!"

"Foolish girl, you really know nothing. I would have wanted to see you in my place, a kid wandering these halls forgotten and alone with no way to get out", he grimaces as more of his dark lightning cancels out Jupiter's and heads towards the green Sailor Senshi.

He is not quite sure what to make of Jolly Roger's song. Is it him not feeling it or the song not really doing anything? "What kind of mermaid are you supposed to be?"

"No, thanks, I am not in the mood for sweets", he says, the crest of the Panthalassa appearing on his forehead as the dark energy intensifies and he just bats away the silver beams on his forehead.

"This is all just a waste of time", he exclaims when Amy burns his vines. "Dark Rose Requiem!", he exclaims again, the same attack striking out towards everyone.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen ignores Gaito, instead swimming between vines again, this time to catch at Jupiter's arm and gesture for her to join him, then swimming over to Moon and taking her hand, too. "Remember it was combos that took me down," he says cheerfully, and then pours energy into both of them. "If he's as powerful as I think he might be, though, you might need to take out the rock."

Best of all, they don't necessarily have to move-- 'dark rose requiem' has Mamoru by the ankle and he's ignoring that too, thorns and all.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom hears Jupiter's sass and immediately, without thought, exclaims, "You've met Riventon, too?"

    Wait, of course she has. Now she feels silly for bringing it up.

    Gaito's arrogance gets to Madoka in a way she didn't really expect. She just looks at him confused. "You're not the only person who knows loneliness, you know. You're not the only one who's suffered, either. More than anything, I'm guessing that it was your selfish thinking that landed you in this mess. If you were a kinder person, you would have more friends."

    Not very witty or biting, at least not intentionally, but that's not really what Madoka's here for. Being a Witch Hunter in the know puts her in an odd mindset, pitying one's enemy while still being determined to, well... stop them. To put it kindly.

    Her arrows don't seem to have any effect, even if she overwhelms him. This guy must have some pretty serious defenses if she isn't even getting through. There's really nothing for her to do but to amp up her attack, so she draws another arrow and holds it, letting it charge for a moment.

    More vines come out at her, and this time she's ready to swim out of the way. A few branch bows materialize in the water around her and block the vines, acting as decoy targets while Blossom keeps moving to safety. She doesn't fire her arrow right now, she just lets the magic build up as the pink arrow slowly grows.

    Lydian, at least, seems to enjoy all of the singing and is playing a tiny recorder to accompany it. No real magical effects, but it sounds nice.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Technically. TECHNICALLY Jolly Roger's song isn't doing anything. She's no mermaid princess. She's no magical songstress. She's just a girl with a song in her heart that she wants to share with her friends.
    And sometimes that can be all that matters.
    Even as the dark vines close in, even as they catch the pirate up and close in, constricting, she can only grit her teeth, expression between a valorous grin and a grimace of pain as she jams on her shamisen like it's a damn electric guitar and her moment is about to come up.
    "I ain't no mermaid, lad." She says through gritted teeth, fighting through the pain.
    "I'm a mahoushoujo. And my strength is the friends I made along the way."
    This is where the takes the tiny recorder being played as her cue and--...

    OH YEAH THERE'S THE SHAMISEN SOLOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

    "Yaaaaaren soran soran soran soran soran!
    A mahou shoujo must be brave!
    We'll lean out far and ride these waves, choi!
    Ya sa e en ya! Saa no dokkoi sho! Dokkoi sho!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Jupiter dives, this time, plunging under the black energy and shaking clinging threads of electricity from her fingers before Gaito's blast can chase her own lightning back to the source. It puts her conveniently nearer for Tuxedo Kamen to catch at her arm - her eyebrows go up, and she nods, moving as he directs. The golden warmth of his power pours into her, like summer sunlight glowing through new leaves.

"--probably!" she calls back to Hope Blossom, voice hitching in almost a laugh. "I can't keep track of all the names!" Buoyed by the strength that Mamoru has given her, she glances toward Sailor Moon, collecting a charge that buzzes and snaps between her hands. She'll start, this time.

With a wordless yell, she rears back and releases another burst of lightning from both hands - this time, the energy is a searing white-gold, and it twists around itself as it arcs through the water to chase Gaito like it's a homing missile.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong tugged on the vines and-- WOO! Saved by a mermaid! As the stages batter the vines, she was loosened enough to escape! She shoved off the ground, leaping into the air. She grabbed two fistfuls of hair this time and threw them around Gaito! Each turning into clones! Well over a dozen! Some went in swinging, some... loafed about.

But that didn't matter, they were a distraction, one of them even getting tossed the staff to strike at Gaito with. Why?

She kicked off one of them and tried to dive PAST Gaito, towards the throne and, more importantly, the sucker! If she could just get a hold of it, they'd be able to pull a retreat if necessary! "Monkey strike: Monkey Snags a Snack from the Scary Suffering Schmuck!" she called.

Because announcing your strike was the best way to try and sneak out a win.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Just a few centuries?" Sailor Moon sticks her tongue out. "You're totally just a baby compared to him - the copyright is sooo in his hands."

Then there's Mamoru's power flowing through her, Mamoru's warm strenght buoying her, pushing back the exhaustion and the frustration. She smiles in spite of everything, because they're all together, still here, and this guy? He's an infant, compared to them. Not to mention a looooooser.

The lollipop is swirled in her mouth, the sweet tang of pineapple flavoring lighting up her tastebuds. She bites, and there's a loud crunch as the lollipop breaks into shards.

What she's about to do? Very gross. But so worth it.

The lollipop stick is pulled out of her mouth, sticky and wet with saliva, and she concentrates, as cosmic power flows into the stick.

"Moon Stick Action!"

And she flicks the stick, so that it explodes the base of the vines connecting to Mamoru. That's not where the Mamoru gave her is going, though. No, the power is going to the vines - as she grabs them fist clenching around their length, light flowing, flowing, flowing, from Usagi to the vines, as they become cosmically charged, going from Gaito's tool to her's.

"Hey everyone, watch out - bombs away! Moon Stole-Your-Vines Action!"

And she throws the vines back at him. When they connect, they explode.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Whatever happened to Gaito sounds messed up. Why did Aqua Regina do that? Amy can't remember the story right now, if Coco told it to her.

    Erika's song is catchy, but it strikes her, in the middle, how abbreviating mahou shoujo as mahou is so close to majou. Witch.

    He can keep spamming the vines. She could burn more magic to use lots of missiles at once, but will that be enough, or will she just waste magic, magic that's only replenished by the deaths of former Puella Magi?

    Maybe she has to do something else...

    Madoka's voice cuts through her thoughts. If you were a kinder person, you would have more friends. "No." Amy speaks, firmly. "Don't you... don't you dare. Pretty girl with magic powers who didn't sell her soul for either." the flame-haired girl continues, a chill in her voice turning to fire. "People are far crueller than that, they don't need justification to... to..."

    And then the fire in her words dies down and she hangs her head. "Sorry. You're probably right in this case."

    Madoka's charging her arrows. Wukong is making a bunch of shadow clones. If they're gonna overwhelm his defenses, now is the time, right?

    She turns back to Gaito. She doesn't actually need to move and aim her weapon to attack, either. "But dude, how likely would you be to go along with someone who tortures someone you care about for months and then asks you to be one of their 'dark lovers'? If you've been wronged, you'll never right it like this. Trying to force everything and everyone under your power and fix it by force. Any of us would have fallen a thousand times over if we'd tried that!"

    As she speaks, missile racks appear on each limb and behind her shoulders. Distract. Overwhelm. How many called attacks can he process and react to at once? "Mahou Missile Massacre!" Darkness creeps over a little more of her soul gem and they fire, dozens of mini-missiles arcing across the throne room at different angles, to converge on Gaito!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"I am sure I must have thought a lot of devious things, if only I could remember what the me of 20 years ago was thinking", he replies sarcastically. "I am really glad Aqua Regina just let people come in here to have a chance to become my friends. Wait, no, she didn't!" Gaito glares at Madoka torbidly, deeming her such a goody two-shoes that it causes him to vent even more at her.

Jolly Roger not being a mermaid certainly explains why he isn't feeling even a little prick from her song, but he doesn't her reasons then. Why waste time with something she knows does nothing? "It is catchy, but it has no purpose", he compliments yet dismisses at the same time.

"It's a good thing you aren't me then", Gaito snarks. "This is my abode, the palace of the Panthalassa, and it is to me it obeys and bows. You can use as many sophisms as you would like, but freedom can only be attained by force. My vengeance will come true", he reaffirms stubbornly.

Grasping the scepter of the Panthalassa tightly, he doesn't pay attention to the arrow that Madoka is charging, only the clones, vines and golden thunders that are headed for him, a powerful clash as the barrier forming around him requires the use of the Panthalassa crest again, the pressure increasing everywhere in the hall as the attack is pushed back still after that effort from him, the air still vibrating from the intensity it took.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Eventually...
    Eventually the shamisen solo comes to an end.
    "Oh no, it has plenty o' purpose, lad..." Jolly Roger replies as she sags where she stands.
    She's not singing anymore.
    But she is grinning.
    "It's a testament, ye see." She begins to explain. "That my strength ain't just my own. I give an' receive strength from the friendships and allies I make. Through friendships I become stronger and make others around me stronger. That's all what bein' part of a CREW is about." She explains as she shifts her grip to hold the shamisen in her left hand while reaching into her coat with her right...
    Jolly Roger proceeds to just pull out a flintlock pistol, aim it while *GRINNING LIKE A FIEND*, and squeezes the trigger at Gaito WAY TOO CASUALLY.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom glances over to Amy with a saddened look. "I never said that being kind would stop you from having enemies, nor did I ever promise that kindness would ever be returned. If anything, it's the opposite..." Madoka briefly thinks back to all the stuff that she did have to go through, though, in order to get this power... All of the times her heart, mind and body were broken, shattered and ripped apart over and over again before she hit this point, but again she keeps her peace. There are a million and one reasons why Madoka can't really speak her mind here. "Besides, I'm not willing to generalize what I said about the creepy candy guy to literally all of human experience."

    Madoka sticks her tongue out at Gaito, which feels really weird to do while underwater, and says, "If she kept you sealed away, it was probably for a good reason. She's never threatened me with that kind of thing."

    The pinkette aims her bow upwards, a plan finally forming in her head. They just need to get the lollipop, right? Of course, that still might mean piercing his barrier, but she might be able to do something else useful too. She releases the arrow, which flies into the ceiling. Instead of piercing or exploding or doing anything damaging, it turns into a series of geometric runes, an indecipherable collection of circles and lines which then turns into a rain of pink magic that fills the area around the throne. Each arrow turns into a pink sparkly cloud upon impact, and while the explosion has a bit of destructive power the real threat comes from how thick and opaque the pink clouds are. Madoka's plan is to make it so that Gaito can't even see.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong let out a shriek as the barrier grew, popping the clones like dust in the wind and making her stumble back, shielding herself with her arms as... so many explosives just rained down all over the place. She leaped back, clearing the area so everyone could focus fire on him without her getting blown up! She was already a bit crispy from all the explosives going on.

Her tail snagged her staff as she went, tumbling backwards from his assault.

"Y-you know, he's a lot tougher than he looks. Even the old demon I fight usually flinches more from this." She was also realizing... she really needed to get some better ranged attacks.

Or make some. She grinned and leaped back over to one of the pillars and kicked out a chunk of it, before whipping around and kicking it at Gaito.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy winces slightly at Madoka's words anyway, but now isn't the time for either of them.

    Gaito's accusations are pretty messed up.

    And not once has Coco objected 'Mom would never do that!', or even said 'That doesn't sound like Mom!'

    Are they really wholly in the right, here? Amy can't think about that right now. Saving Usagi is right. That, she's sure of.

    It always will come down to force, sometimes, won't it? Human history is depressing. "Then you shouldn't have cursed her and dragged us into it. You should have saved your strength for Aqua Regina."

    "I'll use as much force as I have to, for my friends' freedom!" The Puella Magi grins as menacingly as she can as the missile racks refill and her soul gem darkens more. Almost a third of the way filled with corruption now. "I attack again!"

    Mini-missiles zig-zag and arc across the room once more streaking smoke and fire (adding to the difficulty of seeing anything,) and this time detonate shaped charge warheads producing what looks like dozens of lances of light trying to pierce that barrier Gaito's putting up.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Should we power up?" Tuxedo Mask asks Sailor Moon, making a face. He throws another rose, just to keep his reflexes sharp and his head in the game. Where does he throw it? At the throne. Maybe Gaito will sit on a thorn. "I feel like we should power up if we want to get anywhere with this."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"No in-fighting," Sailor Moon snaps, overhearing the barbed and calmer comments being thrown into the fray, "When this is over, you can fight it out if you're mad about pretty girls or people being told that to be kinder or the maybe crimes of an Ocean Mama."

Maybe it's mean. Sailor Moon can be that, sometimes. But she doesn't want to hear Amy snapping at Madoka or Madoka deciding to yell back, not when they're dealing with a guy who's taking all their attacks and barely showing a sweat for dealing with them.

And then Mamoru asks, and -

"No. I don't know if we'll - I mean, we just need the lollipop, right? No need to show him everything we've got, if he can tell Beryl and the rest of them about it."

And then she whistles, sharp and loud -

"Hey, if you like lollipops, try this one!" And then, whether she has Gaito's attention or not, withher tongue tingling from energy - she shouts and spits?! "Moon Lollipop Shards Action!"

And the shards of the candy are charged with cosmic energy, and they sure do explode.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
With the chaos from all the attacks the vines than have been restraining Coco break off, leaving the mermaid to sigh of relief. Focusing her attention on Gaito, The Live Stage shines as Coco makes it reappear around her and raises her arm up high, the bracelet on it emitting gentle white light as a halo of yellow light descends, unlocking the everpresent current of hope that is Aqua Regina's gift.

The Tale of the Seven Seas ~Pearls of Mermaid~: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!

As the Live Stage shines with a brilliant white, the song of the seven seas fights the darkness with purifying splendor.

Despite forces going on from both sides, the pressure across the hall barely protecting Gaito's from the attack as the effort leaves sweat across Gaito's brow. Grimacing in annoyance and pain from the extertion and the intense knockback. "You did well coming this far and get so much of my attention, but you won't actually get anywhere like this, and the moon girl's dreams are forever mine to decide. But please, let's not worry about this, just continue throwing more of your attacks at me until-", Gaito says forcing himself to stay upright, only interrupted by another sound being heard in conjuction with his voice: that of a loud crunch that pretty rudely interrupts him.

A little bit earlier, Eril had entered the throne room, trying to sneak around and reach the throne room to enact her own plan. She was surprised to notice the huge fight that had been happening at the moment, but she just shrugged when she saw that Gaito was having no problem anyway, so she just resumed sneaking towards the throne, the pink clouds actually covering for her in her trip towards the throne.

The astonished man turns around with a look of surprise of his face to be welcomed with the most unexpected sight: Eril relentlessly biting through the lollipop like it was any other candy with a satisfied expression on her face. In the few seconds it takes for the candy to be completely gone, Gaito frowns darkly, for the first time clearly shocked since the mahous came here. "Eril, would you consider telling me what you have just done?" he regards her coldly.

Completely unperturbed by the threatening expression on her boss' face, Eril cheerily shouts "April Fools!" before elaborating "You see, Lord Gaito, they have this custom up on Earth about playing pranks every year today, and you have been holding onto that candy so much. I started thinking that you were never going to do anything with it, so I was waiting for you to leave it behind, and you did! Don't worry, though, I have another one here", the water demon smiles, producing a random candy to plop in his hand.

"Eril, do you have the vaguest idea what you have done!?", he shrieks angrily, tossing the candy aside with disgust. "Who even cares about some random candy? How are you so daft as to miss the fact I was routinely using magic through it?" Gaito slaps her, furious he just lost his focus because he was too concentrated on the magical heroes to notice. Dark energy courses through him when he turns back towards the group of heroes. "None of you are getting out of here", he says coldly, the entire hall being filled with dark lightning about to pass through everyone here.

That is Gaito's ruinous intention, and yet... White light passes around Madoka, Cho and Coco, and the the phenonemon gathers into a single shining figure in the dark hall when Aqua Regina appears, a woman with extremely long blond hair wearing a white dress that is holding a winged scepter as she shows up. "Gaito's fury won't be placated here. Everyone around me", the blonde goddess says as those who do as she proclaims are brought away from there, only Gaito's anger being heard before they go away. "Wait! Aqua Regina!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Onto the beach at Yumegahama, Aqua Regina looks down at Usagi. "It is terrible what you have had to experience, child, but your steadfast spirit throught that suffering is to be rewarded. Please, accepts this gift of mine as an offer of a bond from the sea." The orb on Aqua Regina's scepter shines with pure light as a fragment of that light departs from it and floats down to Sailor Moon in the form of a pure white pearl.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Jolly Roger's gun smokes; a deadly testament to the fact that for as much as she truly believes in the power of friendship and allies, which she TOTALLY does... It is a testament also to the fact that she is also kind of a low down, dirty, cheap-tactics-wielding pirate.
    Pirate's code never said she had to play fair with anyone except her friends and mates after all.
    Casting the spent pistol aside it turns to seafoam and glitter as soon as it hits the ground.
    And then.
    Then Eril.
    "... Wat."
    Oh right it's that day ain't it.
    But when Gaito slaps the lass all bets are f-ing OFF.
    A look of righteous indignation crosses Jolly Roger's face as she draws another gun and opens fire, drops it, draws another gun, opens fire, drops it, draws another gun, opens fire, drops it, draws another gun, opens fire, drops it, draws another gun, opens fire, drops it-- a cycle of bloodshed and fury that resounds with each report of the flintlock pistols every time she pulls the trigger until-...
    Aqua Regina shows up and whisks the party back to the beach, leaving Jolly Roger standing in the sand, gun in hand a beat longer before she tosses it grousing.
    "Aye well... I guess that's that, then." She says, plopping to sit on her butt in the sand while the seagulls crow overhead...
    And she starts plinking on her shamisen again.

    "Yaren soran soran soran soran soran~..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope gives Sailor Moon a frown. What should she even do, argue back? She never wanted the discussion to begin with. No point in dragging it out. Talking about the infighting just adds to the infighting, and putting people on the defensive doesn't really diffuse anything.

    Madoka's starting to really realize why Homura turned into such a hardass.

    Hope Blossom reminds herself that she's doing this for Coco's sake, the girl who protected her before she had magic, and nothing else really matters beyond that.

    Eril then shows up to eat the candy, the sheer ridiculousness of which kinda immediately breaks the somber/triggered mood that Madoka was getting into. Then all of a sudden she's glowing and alleged war criminal Aqua Regina shows up. "Is this because of the pearl you gave me?" she asks.

    Yes, of course she brought that with her. This is exactly the kind of situation where Madoka would've brought it along.

    After they are all safely teleported away, Madoka smiles at Aqua Regina and says, "Thanks! You came at just the right time." Then, to Sailor Moon, with a more subdued smile, she adds, "I hope you sleep a little better now."

    After that, she turns to walk away, but suddenly her henshin fades as Medo separates from her. "Hey, where do you think you're going! We need to give people a checkup!" chides the tiny medic fairy.

    Madoka holds up a hand and says, "R-right... I mean... I think Kamen might be better at that than just a band-aid, though?"

    Medo isn't hearing it though, and starts checking up on everyone.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong was panting, watching Gaito. He was just... so strong. Was this what it was like fighting a General? How many enemies were there? They couldn't just... leave it. Could they? They couldn't--

... Crunch.

Cure Wukong stared and just watched with a baffled, confused expression on her face. Staring...

Then, slowly, she began to grin. And then she was laughing so hard she almost fell over. "Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! Eril, that was the best April Fools I've EVER SEEN!" she yelled after her.

The slap, however, made her smile fall...

And then he goes back on the offensive. Oh crud. He was angry. She shrieked and lifted her arms up to defend herself!

And then they were out. They... "We... did it?" she asked. "I mean, sure, we kind of just distracted him there but... but we DID IT!" she yelled, before lifting her arms into the air in a cheer. "WOO! GO US! We-- oh! Right!" she let out a low whistle and her pink cloud came flying through the air to stop in front of... Sailor Moon. "Sailor Moon, I think you've earned this... a nice, wonderful... loooooong nap," she said with a massive grin...

Only to, then, realize... the pearl she had, wearing on her little neck guard? It was glowing too... She gave a big grin to Madoka and Coco. "Whew. At least I don't have to sing, right? Nobody deserves to have to suffer that," she said in a playful tone.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The crunch of a lollipop being greedily devoured breaks through the sound of battle. Sailor Moon stares at the strange girl in shock, even as Gaito rages, gradually realizing that the thing they had been fighting for has been...

Destroyed by the enemy?

"Eh??????" Her noise of confusion is lost in the sound of explanation, little question marks practically dancing over her head. She isn't even sure if they still... need to be here? Now?

Except then, there's the even louder sound of flesh against flesh, as Gaito slaps that girl, and Sailor Moon's eyes narrow in fury.

"Hey! You jerk, how dare you hit her!"

Erika's endless cracking shots are about to be joined with an escalation when suddenly -

????????????????????

A tall blond woman is just - there. Sailor Moon grabs Sailor Jupiter and Tuxedo Kamen as they're all swept away, the sounds of furious shouting echoing behind them - and then, they're back on the beach.

The feeling of solid ground makes her legs shake, and she yawns in sudden, increased exhaustion, at the return of gravity. She feels really, really bad about the yawning, when a gift is offered to her, and she hurriedly accepts, blinking in bafflement -

"Um? Th-thank you? No problem? I'll - definitely take this...."

A pure white pearl, beautiful as anything she's ever seen, cradled delicately in her hands...

"Thank you. Truly, Aqua Regina. And thanks to all of you, as well - I mean, clearly that jerk was so, so strong, and there was everything else we dealt with so.... thank you for coming, and helping me."

She glances at Madoka, and she wants to - apologize, a little, because she hadn't really wanted to snap at her, but...

Instead, she dips her head. "Thank you, Hope Blossom-chan. I hope so too."

Another huge yawn, this one practically making her jaw crack. There's the offer of a pink cloud, but Sailor Moon just shakes her head, giggling. "I'm gonna make Jupiter-chan carry me home," she says seriously, "She'll take turns with Mamochan. 'cause I plan to be asleep soooo soon."

Amanda Faust has posed:
Amy winces at the chastisement from Sailor Moon, as well.

                     Destruction rains in the throne room!                      

    Damn, all that and Gaito's only straining himself? What is he? They can't stop here, right, they have to keep fighting, for Sailor--

    Crunch.

    It would be funny if it weren't so serious. She frowns at the slap, but Gaito's minions are also hurting people and she has bigger concerns when Gaito changes to his next boss pattern and Amy wonders if this is it, if they'll be able to defeat him; It's small comfort that if all of them fall here, a weakened Gaito will have to fight off a Witch as well. Wait, shit, Cure Wukong is immortal, so she'd be trapped in the Labyrinth too--

    Before that train of thought can continue, help arrives in the form of Aqua Regina, and Amy remembers she can swim here, and hurries over to her.

    And they're on a beach somewhere.

    Amy takes a breath and lets out a relieved sigh. First thing's first, she dismisses the missile racks, pulls a partly-used grief seed out of her belt pouch and touches it to the soul gem on the back of her wrist, drawing away the corruption. The seed is almost expended, now, and her SOUL shines clearly once more. She slips the grief seed back into the pouch.

    Then she realizes she's covered in thorn scratches; She didn't turn off pain, she's just been very focused on other things. If someone wants to heal that, she'll let them, but it turns out that she can heal skin-deep scratches at negligible cost in magic. Convenient!

    She smiles at Sailor Moon. "Well! You can finally rest now. Sweet dreams, you deserve them."

    Less convenient is... things that may still need to be said. She turns to Aqua Regina. "Thank you, for helping us, and getting us out of there, but... Was what Gaito said true? That he was sealed away from birth without even a chance?" She watches Regina's face, as if hoping she might be able to read subtle reactions.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Without his cape, Tuxedo Kamen looks a little bit offbalance-- but as Aqua Regina is talking to Sailor Moon, he glances around to everyone to make sure no one's seriously injured, gives Amy's soul gem a cursory look in the process, and smiles at Erika as she drops herself onto the beach and plays.

He holds up his hands when Medo comes around; he's scratched up a little bit but otherwise fine, and he's a healer anyway.

Then he hears Usagi's last and laughs. "All right, all right! Sailor Jupiter has first go~" and then he's off with Jupiter and Moon too.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco just looks around at the surprising turn of events that was Eril doing her own April Fools on Gaito. Sometimes she would like to know what goes through her mind. But then Aqua Regina appears and they are whisked away from Gaito's palace, leaving them on the beach. "We did it... sort of...", Coco sighs, releasing all the tension that she had accumulated, and there was lots.

"We did it", Coco smiles, reaching over to Cho and giving her a hug, offering one around as well. "That was more complicated and sudden than I expected, but everyone is fine, right?", the mermaid says, then looking at Usagi. "I am glad you are finally free at least." And all in one piece, most importantly. Even if they may have small wounds from the thorns. Coco surely has them.

Aqua Regina looks at Madoka. "I was feeling your bonds acting out in unison", Aqua Regina replies to Madoka. "And I was right to come. I understood what you were there to do, but that was a very dangerous place."

The goddess of the sea sighs when Amy asks her question. "Yes, he spent his life there since he was born, just like all the descendants of the Panthalassa that got sealed there after the war that happened 300 years ago when they tried to spread their tyranny. However, Gaito is a direct descendant of the rulers of the Panthalassa. His power of darkness is great, and extremely dangerous. That was why I had to keep him there and more importantly separated due to the power of light his little brother possesses. Together, the two of them would have the power to destroy land and sea."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka glances over to Moon with a bit of surprise at her words. Of all the possible responses, Moon's was probably the best one. The pinkette smiles with all sincerity and says, "Sweet dreams, Moon Princess."

    To Amy, Madoka adds, "There's something I want to show you later, but I can't really explain it without Gretchen around, and while she'd usually be at such an important battle..." Madoka glances towards Coco. "No offense to our friendly mermaid princess. Gretchen finds your company pleasant enough, even if she doesn't always express that. It's just that the competing light and dark songs... well, you already know that goes."

    Madoka accepts and returns Coco's hug when offered, but she actually hangs around a bit longer to hear about this. At first, she doubts that it would change much of anything, but she'd like to actually know the story without making assumptions. It's not as if the pinkette has never put her trust in the wrong person before, after all.

    What the sea goddess actually says shocks her a little bit. "So... all that stuff I said about him, actually wasn't true?" On the one hand, she can kinda understand his motives. On the other, you can't really let a guy like that out. "I guess... I don't really know what to feel about that. I'm guessing that it's not as easy as simply taking their power away?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at Madoka's request to show her something later, "Sure." and then listens to the Queen. Her eyes widen at the plainly told truth. She expected that Gaito was twisting things.

    A tiny, extremely petty part of her mind briefly feels just a bit of schadenfreude at Madoka's realization that her insults were unwarrented, but the rest of Amy's mind quickly crushes that thought. Wait, since when do I even have thoughts like that? Do I have a teenage mind, too? That... she's not going to dwell on that right this moment.

    The red-and-white-costumed girl shakes her head, focusing on Aqua Regina again, and crosses her arms. "So you -- your ancestors, I mean -- locked the Gerudo away for three hundred years and now you have to deal with Ganondorf. ...That's a human cultural reference, sorry." She uncrosses her arms, one hand gesturing while the other's on her waist. "Isn't that all the more reason he needed a chance to see kindness, and friendship, and love? Otherwise what choice did he have but to only know darkness and emotional pain? If someone did that to me and I turned out evil and bitter and wanting revenge on the world that wronged me and then people said they only hurt me because I was going to turn out evil, I'd be rightfully pretty pissed."

    Amy frowns. "Then again, this is the same culture that curses its daughters to turn into seafoam if they have an unfortunate accident. You uh. You might want to re-evaluate how you do things."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong gave her best friend a hug as well. And well... if Moon wasn't going to take it, she was. She collapsed forward and her cloud zoomed forward, snagging her out of the air as she dropped with a soft sigh. "Oh... yeah. Just... gonna sleep for days..."

However... she did wave to Aqua Regina... "Hiiii... pretty mermaid lady person... take good care of Yellow Voice. She's a good mermaid. Best friend... just gonna..."

... and she was already drifting out. It had been a LONG, violent battle. They'd had to fight through TWO groups of magical villains, and then hold back Gaito long enough for Eril to prank him! It had been rough and she was exhausted! And she was going to rest *very well* tonight...

"Oh yeah... the sea foam thing... you better stop that. If that *ever* happens to Coco I am going to *find out* how to be all Wukonging up in your equal to YOUR heaven..." she mumbled grouchily. And no, she didn't make much sense. But it had been a LOT of fighting.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"...if you were going to do that, you should have just killed him," Sailor Moon tells Aqua Regina, still holding the pearl, still holding Mamoru's hand. They're about to leave, but to hear that...

"I mean, he never had a chance. He's a jerk, and I'm not in the mood to feel sorry for him, but - locking someone up for something they can't control... if he was only ever going to have a miserable life, you should have done the like.... humane thing, and killed him."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"I understand", Coco nods to Madoka. Frequent times she has had to warn the X-Chara about when she was going to sing to avoid her being hurt. Though, in a place as dense of dark energy as Gaito's palace was, maybe things may not have been exactly the same.

When Aqua Regina explains what she had done, Coco listens intently: she was aware of most of the detail, up until the separation of the two brothers. That was extremely sad. Aqua Regina looks sadly towards Madoka when she asks about what she said. "Were I at my best, I could have sealed that power away, but my powers are greatly diminished ever since I spent most of them subduing the warmongering Panthalassa, and I could only take one of the least desiderable paths.

She holds her scepter tighter. "Nowadays, I can only intervene rarely, usually when mermaid princesses are together. If all seven of them had been there fighting together, I would have been able to do much more. I am sadly quite limited. If you can actually awaken your pearls, maybe more could be achieved."

Aqua Regina shakes her head at Amy. "I didn't intend on separating them, but my hands were tied and something had to be some or maybe all 7 gather. And I am not responsible for the seafoam curse, rather that's a thing that afflicts merfolk as a whole", she clarifies.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The pinkette isn't sure how she feels about this. She doesn't want to pass judgment on a culture that she doesn't know that well, but that same instinct means that she can't really judge Gaito either.

    The Gerudo reference actually does get Madoka's attention though. She's not much of a gamer, but Zelda games are kind of her speed. "I thought the only ones who got sealed away were the ones who went for the Triforce? ... I mean... unless the Gerudo became the Twili..."

    Then Moon says what she says and Madoka blinks. "I mean... I guess I can understand that feeling. That's not much different than how I would approach a Witch."

    Aqua Regina explains herself further, and Madoka nods somberly. "Perfect solutions don't always exist. I guess everyone has to face that fact sooner or later." She fidgets a bit before adding, "I guess I was wrong about him, but... I think any form of apology or pity would just enable his entitlement."

    Madoka reaches under her collar to pull out a simple necklace. She's placed the gifted pearl in it, latched in such a way that it could be safely removed if needed. "Awaken the pearl? You mentioned before that this was a precious bond, but I'm not really sure what to do with it aside from keep it on me."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy asides briefly to Madoka, "I mean, the way the Gerudo were stuck living in the awful desert in Ocarina of Time..."

    Moon offers the practical, brutal option. Damn. But then, she does have the memories of some royal ancestor... And she's got a point. Condemning someone to a life of suffering is worse than no life at all. Although she quirks an eyebrow at Madoka's comment. Is she saying it's better to kill Puella Magi so they don't-- well, okay, destroying the soul gem if it looks like one is about to turn into a Witch may be fair.

    Aqua Regina explains herself. "If you could separate them, couldn't you also have taken them in and let them grow up surrounded by your people?"

    And the seafoam curse isn't anyone's fault, just a merfolk thing, it turns out. Fair enough. Now isn't the time to discuss transmerfolkism.

    Amy looks between Aqua Regina and Madoka, crossing her arms. "You know, I wonder about that. 'My hands were tied.' 'It has to be this way.' When you're a kid, you ask why, and the grown-ups say 'this is just the way it has to be' and always have some justification for hurting people. Then by the time you're the grown-up, you've been told it so many times you believe it, and the cycle continues. I wonder if that's why there are no adult magical girls?"

    "Oh right, that's another thing, magic is real." She gestures vaguely at the others. "We have mermaids and ancient princesses and dreams that manifest as fairies and also the hearts and wishes of teenage girls keep the stars from going out. There is so much more in the world than we ever thought, and that means so much more is possible. How does anyone really know that things have to be a certain way?"

    She turns to face the others, besides Aqua Regina, and holds her arms apart. "We're magical girls, saving the world with friendship and love, right...?" she pleads, then holds her hand to her head. "There's got to be a better way..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Zelda is, unfortunately, not a game Usagi's played a lot of. She knows about it, sure, but she's never been a fan of games that have a lot of puzzles - she prefers games that are fast paced, or are at least romantic, so she's not sure how to interpret this whole reference deal...

But the part about thinking of it like Witches? She winces a little, but nods. "Exactly. With Witches - we couldn't fix Klarissa-chan. Only Sayaka-chan could help her, and I don't know if her special circumstances... would work on anyone else. And honestly? I don't think you have to apologize to him, Hope-chan. He's a jerk, and if he was kinder, maybe his general wouldn't have pranked him. But I guess, if you couldn't do that..."

She wonders if her moon mama had found herself at the limits of her strength, too. She wonders if that's why Beryl is a burden passed back to them.

But then Amy is giving an impassioned speech, about the way things are and the way they have to be, and Sailor Moon - Usagi - Princess Serenity - all of the above - sighs.

"Because even our miracles only go so far," she says, "We always have to try, sure, but we can only try so much before we're risking other people's lives. And... I don't know about you, Amy-chan, but I've saved the world with Incredible Violence almost as much as with Friendship or Love. Gaito keeps people trapped and he tormented me for ages - I don't want to kill people, but... if being a magical girl has taught me anything, it's that sometimes you have to do things you don't like to save others."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Neither Coco nor Aqua Regina are aware of Zelda games, both due not to being the target audience, and at the same time they just aren't that informed on every single facet of surface culture, so both factor means they don't even know of it by osmosis. "I don't think Aqua Regina caught that explanation about this Gerudo. I didn't either", Coco intervenes.

"The seafoam thing is just a fact we had to live with until recently. It was a surprisingly rare chance the one I stumbled into. Aqua Regina is only responsible for the prohibition to fall in love with humans, because we have revealed too many things and dissolve if we aren't careful. Even then, we still belong to two different worlds."

But that stuff is kinda less important compared to the fact that Gaito had just been dealing with all this baggage. "This is why you told me to always hold compassion in my heart, because of what even someone like Gaito had to experience."

Aqua Regina nods. "That is what I meant. Even if I was powerless to find a better way other than hold the seal that kept Gaito there and even with everything that he went onto doing, he is someone in pain. And keeping him among mermaids was just as dangerous a solution. His heritage would have driven a conflict between the mermaids and the Panthalassa. That's just a cursed destiny I have been too powerless to avert."

The goddess of the seas looks at Amy. "Blame me if you must, I won't say you are wrong for it, but I did what I could with the means I had back then."

"I am doing what I can to make sure that when the conflict reaches its apex, a conclusion that avoid the actual strife will be possible. That's also why I decided to rectify the system of the pearls and distribute them to those who can nurture a bond with my mermaid princesses. That is the secret to awakening them. To continue believing and nurturing the bond it represents", Aqua Regina tells Madoka.

"Eril was pranking him the way the way you would prank a friend, I think. The Dark Lovers would give their lives for Gaito. They are that devoted, from my clashes with them. She was probably pretty surprised when her candy was turned down", Coco muses after Sailor Moon brings up the prank that ended with very unintentional consequences.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    A better way? Well, of course Madoka has to believe that. She's Hope Blossom for a reason.

    "I mean... there are adults. Most of them are just evil," points out Madoka. "Like whoever it was that corrupted Gretchen originally, or whatever is going on at Easter. Inai-sensei might have thoughts about that question."

    Madoka shakes her head, and then turns away from the group. "Though, I will say this much. There's a difference between the optimal ideal solution, and the solution you have readily at hand. Of course we can always imagine a better way, but... that isn't free, and often requires luck."

    Madoka nods at Sailor Moon's assertion regarding miracles. Even a theoretical peak Madoka would have limits to what she could do. Gretchen made that pretty clear during their private talks. "Right. It's not just about him. It's also about everyone he could harm. Everyone he would. Honestly, the reason why I'm mad at him, I think, is because there's one type of person who, when they suffer, will say 'I want to make sure that no one else has to go through this', but a different kind will instead say, 'I want everyone else to suffer, too'. He's in the second group, and I can't really pity him if he's going to think like that."

    The pinkette cups her two fairies into her hands and says, "I should... probably go. Thank you all for bringing me along for this fight, and thank you Aqua Regina for helping us to escape. I think the next time we face him we're probably going to need something more powerful."

    "As for the Legend of Zelda references..." Madoka adds with a smile, "Maybe that explanation best saved for a different time. It's a popular story for us land dwellers, but it's a long one. I'll keep nurturing the bond between us, and I'll protect this gift you've given me. I'm sure I'll see you around."

    With a tired smile, Madoka bows to everyone remaining here and then starts to walk away.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy slumps a little. Part of her mind still sees Usagi and Coco and Cho and everyone else as more/truer/realer Magical Girls than her, and there's something sad about hearing this from Sailor Moon, again.

    And it's just plain jarring to hear someone who actually fights supervillains IRL reference that old Shen comic.

    Amy certainly is in no real position to refute it, and hangs her head. "...I mean... you're right, of course. It's not like I haven't killed Witches and youma."

    Suddenly feeling weary, she drops her butt down to sit in the sand, then eyes widen as she realizes that was a terrible mistake in a skirt, and then realizes that oh right, her outfit has a bodysuit underneath so she's fine.

    "...I always used to think if I ever got power to fight evil that's how I'd win, too. Use the big blasty magic spells, or build the unstoppable weapons. Maybe that's why I got a rocket launcher. I certainly wasn't trying to purify Gaito with anti-tank warheads, which I thought were a pretty damn incredible weapon when I read how they worked, years ago."

    "...I wasn't expecting to be a magical girl, though. Maybe it's... well, why should real life be the same as fantasy? I mean, except that it is, shit. I was even telling myself that c'mon, it's not like Kyubey is like Fav, back when everybody else hated him and Mami and I were the only ones that thought he was on the level."

    Beat. Oh right, she should clarify that reference. "...Magical Girl Raising Project. I can't reccomend it, I only watched like half of it before... well, the only character I really cared about died."

    She nods a little at Madoka's comment about Gaito being the type to inflict needless suffering, and Regina's explanation that Gaito would have fared little better in mermaid society. "Maybe you're right. But if that's true, then..." Amy shakes her head a little, "Sailor Moon's right, it would've been kinder to kill him."

    She pulls her knees close enough to rest her arms against them. "...I never dreamed I'd be a magical girl. I thought I was ready for magic stuff or space adventures or whatever and ironically it turns out magical girls are just the same as the rest of it, but I wasn't who I thought I was. I'm armed to kill anything, but I don't want that to be the solution."

    She looks up at Sailor Moon. "How do you deal with it? Not to mention you got that Moon Princess stuff I barely even know about."

    Madoka heading out gets a nod and "Thank you. Talk to you later."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A thoughtful nod. Yes, they need to be compassionate, and they need to remember their hearts, their friends... but it's something she thinks... may only be able to take them so far.

There can't be compassion, for Beryl. At least, not the kind that ends with her alive, free to hurt people again. The only mercy for her would be the grave, and it's something Usagi has had to dwell on over the months, as youma strike and she and Mamoru continue on their path.

"It would be really nice, if life was like a TV show. If we could get that ideal outcome - but Hope-chan is right. Sometimes there's only what we can do."

And then Amy asks her how she deals with it, and she thinks about it for a moment, squeezing Tuxedo Kamen's hand, leaning against Sailor Jupiter, and she finally puts her thoughts into words.

"Inai-sensei once told me that I have more power than most people. And that, basically, that power means I can do more, than other people can. I can help people, and I should. And even if... even if I didn't ask for this... even if I didn't want this... I still have power. I still have responsibility. And I'd rather know I did everything I could, even if it hurt... than know other people are hurt because of me."

She yawns, again, and leans even more on Sailor Jupiter.

R"I think that's what you've gotta do too, Amy-chan. Think about what you can live with. What you want to do." Turning to Coco and Aqua Regina, she bows politely. "Thank you for helping, Coco-chan, and Aqua Regina-san. We really couldn't have done it without you, and I know... I'm really going to look forward to sleeping, again. I'll think about what you said - and I'll treasure this pearl, and the bond we share."

And then, finally, she departs with Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Jupiter, and true to form, she does indeed get that piggyback ride. She's asleeep before they even leave the beach.