2300/Radiant Infirmary, Episode 2300: Bad, Bad News

Radiant Infirmary, Episode 2300: Bad, Bad News
Date of Scene:	06 February 2025
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	A couple days after the Gates of Disorder, a distraught Rashmi comes to the nurse's office to tell the story of what happened to Molly, and seek any kind of advice. Setsuna, one of Rashmi's very dear friends, provides comfort, advice, and a melatonin so she can get some real sleep.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Setsuna Meiou

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Rashmi Terios has posed:
It's only been a couple of days, since Molly was lost. And Rashmi is still shattered, but... People need to hear. To *know.* And Rashmi herself, could really, really use the presence of someone comfortingly wise and tall.

Since she also very, *very much* did not feel like showing up to class and causing a scene based simply on looks alone... now she stands in front of the nurse's office, the marks of grief stark on her face.

She does not knock, but sends a message to Setsuna's phone;

    << Hey Setsuchan... I'm right outside the office. I need to talk to someone, d'you have some free time? >>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
For her part, Nurse Meiou had herself been through the wringer over the last while.

A critical piece of equipment on the Gates of Time was apparently damaged when SOMETHING punched it's way into our spacetime...and when a recent temporal event put a strain on things...it finally gave out.

Leaving Sailor Pluto scrambling to repair something that wasn't supposed to ever need repairing...all while having to keep jumping back to Earth to manage things with said recent temporal event.

Compound that with the intense feeling that one of her Keys went missing for a while, and you have a very stressed Guardian of Time.

Today, however, she's finally gotten the subsystem functioning again after managing to repair the broken part.

And she's now feeling much better after having had a chance to collapse in her own bed last night.

Still, when she gets a text from Rashmi, it makes her blink in confusion before frowning a little.

She looks over towards the door, then narrows her eyes for a moment before getting up and walking over to open said door, "Rashmi, my door is always open for you. You know that."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When the door opens, Rashmi looks up at her friend, and just looks... *miserable.* Her hair is halfheartedly tied up just to keep it off the floor, she looks like she's been crying for at least a day straight, and tears are even now standing out in her eyes, as she tries to push whatever she was going to say past a closed throat.

Finally, she simply lunges foward, wrapping her arms around Setsuna. "Setsuchan," she finally grates out, as the tears come out again. "It's Molly-chan.... she's... I think she's *gone,* and I don't know what to do..."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou wasn't sure exactly WHAT she was expecting when she opened the door...but she certainly wasn't expecting to see Rashmi looking like the definiton of the word 'misery'.

She blinks once or twice trying to parse that...and then Rashmi gloms onto her as tears fall from the younger woman's eyes.

Automatically, Nurse Meiou wraps her arms around Rashmi, returning the hug for a few moments before pulling free one hand.

She gently tugs the redhead into the infirmary, then reaches out and closes the door behind her, then she wraps her friend in a hug with both arms again, "...gone? Gone where?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It takes a while, to get the full story out. Mostly because a good amount of the retelling had to be done around ugly-sobs and the sort of trip-back-up-and-try-again narration that... tends to happen when someone is reopening an extremely fresh, deep emotional wound. But eventually, Setsuna learns the whole truth;

A couple days ago, one of the Witches 5 had put up another of those salvaged Eclipse Towers down on Yumegahama Beach, and torn open a portal to the Dusk Zone. This, so that kidnapped civilians could be dragged *into the Dusk Zone* for whatever reason the heartless scientist could have.

Of course, the assembled mahou weren't going to leave civilians there, and Rashmi, Chrono, Veronica, and Molly dove *into the portal* to affect a rescue, only to learn the most important thing about diving into the Dusk Zone.

*Don't ever to that.*

Because 'a world made of Dark Energy' is a poor descriptor for the magnitude of emotional, spiritual, and physical corrosion simply breathing the dark air can cause, not to mention how sharply it attenuates magic not drawn from its foundational energy source.

They got the civilians out, in the end, but only because Molly stayed behind to hold off the monsters attracted by their magic.

And only because Molly destroyed the tower from her side, before more than one monster could come through into our world.

And before the portal closed completely, Starcrash reported fatal damage to his weilder... then was cut off.

With all of this, it makes more sense, now, why Rashmi looks as awful as she does, right now.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou stays quiet during Rashmi's retelling of her tale, allowing the younger woman to get through it in her own time. As she does, she gently rubs the redhead's lower back in an effort to help comfort her.

As the tale goes on, however, Nurse Meiou at first frowns at hearing what one of the remaining Witches has done.

She's fairly convinced that all of the members of that organization have crossed the line several times over by now.

As the tale nears it's end, however, she blinks...quickly getting a feeling she knows where this story is heading...and not liking it one bit.

...and when her feeling is validated a few moments later upon Rashmi's description of Starcrash's final transmission...Nurse Meiou goes very still for a few moments before taking a few slow, deliberate breaths.

There's nothing she can do about Molly right now...and Rashmi is here and needs her help.

A few more deep breaths are taken before she says, "...I take it you haven't really slept since then?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Some," Rashmi admits, leaning against Setsuna and closing her eyes. "I got a few hours when Usachan took me to Mamo-kun's apartment, right after..." And she's still a bit salty about how her Device managed to go behind her back, in its quest to look out for her well-being, but that's a gripe for another day.

"But we know people who *can* search the Dusk Zone safely, and they agreed to, and they didn't find anything..."

...And Rashmi will never admit that 'what that could mean' has featured in her nightmares during the times she *has* managed to sleep.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou sighs, then goes to pick the shorter woman up and carry her to one of the beds in the back, "Come on...let's lay you down. You're dead on your feet as it is."

She gently shakes her head, "...hrm...well, that's certainly not great..."

She blows out a breath, then shakes her head, "...I wish I could tell you everything will be alright, but you're smart enough to know that's not assured...though that being said, this is a world of magic and therefore vast possibilities."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Apparently, Rashmi is either not the sort to mind being picked up by people she trusts, or is just too wrecked to care. And as she's settled in on one of the beds, and reminded of the existence of magic, she replies with a hollow smile. "Yeah," she says, in the tones of someone who isn't really waiting on a miracle. "But that's kinda hard to match against *seeing* her get impaled through the back--*" Her throat closes for a moment, and she presses the heel of a hand to a puffy, exhausted eye. "Sorry... I know. I just... I hope you're right. I really, *really* do."

She subsides for a bit, staring up at the ceiling. "...Setsuchan? I know it's not the same, but... how did you come to terms with it? When you eventually did?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Once she has Rashmi laid down, Nurse Meiou starts puttering about, getting the other woman's shoes off and setting them next to the bed...then making sure she has a pillow and is lying comfortably before getting a blanket and covering the redhead up.

When Rashmi asks her question, however, Nurse Meiou stops...and she stands there for a few moments before blowing out another breath and finishing tucking her in.

That all taken care of, she steps back over to the bedside and takes the other woman's hand, "...it took a while...but eventually I hit a point where I realized I could either stay curled up around that knot of grief and let it consume me...or I could force myself to get up and go on."

She pauses and goes quiet for a few moments, then goes on a bit more softly, "...and I realized that those I cared about wouldn't want me to mourn them for the next however many thousand years..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Yeah," Rashmi says softly. "...Yeah. I can... understand that? Intellectually, but... Setsuchan she was the *first friend I ever had.*" This last, said in an agonized whisper, the redhead's eyes lost and haunted.

"I try to tell myself that, and it's just... there's like... this other me just *furious* at the idea. Like I'd be abandoning her if I wasn't just... *this* all the time..."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou gives Rashmi's hand little squeeze, "...I understand the feeling, Rashmi...but that's not really healthy. Nor is it a good idea. Letting that rage consume you won't accomplish anything."

She gives the redhead a serious look, "That rage belongs to YOU. You don't belong to IT. Don't let it change you. Don't let it twist you."

There's a brief pause, then she goes on in a quieter tone, "...but I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel that anger. Feeling that way is normal...but you need to control it. Harness it. Focus it. And when you find a worthy target...THEN you let it out."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi falls silent, listening carefully. This is, after all, why she came to Setsuna; to learn how to grieve, from one experienced in the practice... And you don't get much more experienced than Setsuna, in learning how to cope with loss.

So she subsides, and she listens, and she nods. "I hope... nobody minds. But... I think I'm going to have to work on that, before I go out again. I know my magic can't kill people, but... I kind of... have the feeling it might, if I really, really wanted it to."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou looks down at Rashmi and arches an eyebrow...then she shakes her head, "Rashmi...this is MAGIC. It's all about imagination and how you use it. And you can do some really dangerous things with creative use of force fields."

She then reaches out and pats the other woman's forehead, "...but that's not for now. Right now, you need to get a few hours of sleep. I'll wake you in a few hours for lunch...and I'll get you a mild sleep aid so that you can get past that point where you close your eyes and your mind just WILL NOT shut up."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Heh," Rashmi manages, nestling into the blankets. "I mean, you're not wrong, but..."

Trailing off, she lets go of that line of thinking, accepting the nurse's diagnosis with a long sigh, and a nod. "Yeah... Well... you've got help with that," she mutters. "Nicomachea managed to find a way to get Mamo-kun to lock me out of his simulation tools. Which I mean... I get it, but..."

Oh how that galls.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou smirks and snorts, "Good for him."

She then goes and rummages in the cabinets for a few moments before coming back with a little paper cup (like places use for condiments) and a bottle of water with the cap taken off, "...now you can either take this melatonin pill or I can get out the GOOD drugs and sedate you."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I'll be good," Rashmi says meekly, taking the paper cup and bottle, and taking her pill like a Good Patient. "There... now you don't have to sedate me."

Settling back against the pillow, the redhead sighs heavily. "...It's always gonna feel like this, isn't it? At least a little..."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The Nurse pulls the curtains to the bed area and cuts the lights in that section of the room, greatly dimming it, "...it gets better."

She then pulls up a chair and sits down next to Rashmi's bed, "Now sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Thank you, Setsuchan," Rashmi murmurs, turning over onto her side.

"And... I'm sorry too... I know you liked her. I'm sorry..."

"...I couldn't..."

"...save her..."

And with that, she falls off the edge of the waking world.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As the young woman falls off to sleep, Nurse Meiou gets up and takes care of some of the small little details...then she quietly moves to the main room and sits down at her desk...where she spends a bit of time very slowly seething and getting her anger under control...primarily by imagining shoving a Dead Scream down the throat of one of the Witches...before turning and starting in on some paperwork while she waits for lunch to roll around.