389/Written In The Stars (First Take)

Written In The Stars (First Take)
Date of Scene:	08 September 2023
Location:	Dorms #2
Synopsis:	Nephrite and Kyouka team up to search for Naru Osaka and her captor. Takes place a couple hours after Scene 382.
Cast of Characters:	Nephrite, Kyouka Inai
Tinyplot:	Dangerous Orbits

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Nephrite has posed:
    The dorm room where Hematite, Sailor Moon, and Nephrite were until recently meeting is situated between two empty rooms that have not yet been inhabited/whose inhabitants have not yet returned. Whatever is happening there right now, Nephrite isn't present. But there's a reminder of his presence in the area. Inscribed on the wall outside of the room is a series of constellations and astrological symbols.

    Sagitta, Triangulum, Corona Australis, and the shape that anyone would recognize, the Crescent Moon.

    The writing is invisible to the mundane eye.

    In the corridor outside unoccupied rooms, in the evening, it still a series of subtle white lines that may blend into the wall when seen by those with Veil Sight. But it takes only a closer inspection to see them, and from focusing upon them the blue-white glow becomes evident.

    What was Kyouka investigating in regard to astrological symbols again?

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Although Kyouka had said she was leaving the school to go home and rest, she found that she couldn't just sit at home. Not when this situation was unfolding, one she felt personally responsible for. She had gone home, showered, and eaten something, but then had found herself unable to relax. So she went back. She knew that Darien and Usagi were going to meet with Nephrite and possibly some other people to make further plans, and she had heard them mention unoccupied dorms. Although she wasn't taken to the exact room, it doesn't take a lot of deduction to locate the general area- not when you have an active and fairly powerful magic sense.

    Although when she arrives at the room, wearing a casual outfit consisting of black jeans, calf-high boots and a red t-shirt, she finds that what she was sensing was not actually people (this would have become evident as she got near, but at that point she was curious about exactly what she was sensing.) Turns out it's some symbols inscribed on the wall. Ash-grey eyes narrow slightly as she regards them, standing in the empty hallway. She's no expert on stars or astrology, but there's only one other place she's seen magical star-related symbology recently.

    She follows the trail down the hallway.

Nephrite has posed:
    Sparkling little stars in clouds of blue, like a nebula in miniature, leading the way, twinkling merrily and innocently until they reach the next sequence of glyphs at the end of the hall. Pyxis, Sagitta, Corona Australis, and the symbol for Earth.

    The nebula trail continues around the corner.

    Sagitta, Triangulum Australe, Leo, Mars.

    Next sequence.

    Pyxis, Sagitta, Triangulum, Mercury.

    Pyxis, Triangulum Australe, Coma Berenices, Pluto.

    There's a trend here.

    Eventually, the sequence ends at Usagi and Naru's dorm room. Standing there in the hall is a tall man with long, wavy brown hair, in a blue-gray uniform with gold trim. He's writing the next sequence with a gloved finger.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka follows the trail. Because while people have continually told her throughout her life that she has a nose for finding trouble, they had no idea how literally that was true. More importantly, she needs to know if the author of this admittedly elegant vandalism was up to something she would not approve of. She's not an RA, but that doesn't mean she's going to let weird magic shenanigans go on in the dorms without at least figuring out if they're dangerous.

    She does seem to realize where the trail is leading her before she arrives there. She's been in Usagi and Naru's dorm room before, after all. She halts as she turns the corner and spies the man standing there in the hallway. Only for a moment.

    "You know," She says, advancing towards him a moment later. "This is a girl's only floor. Also you're writing on the walls, which I'm pretty sure isn't allowed." Her voice is casual, even mildly amused, and her demeanor confident, despite her left arm still being in a sling bound to her chest.

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite looks up briefly at Kyouka, taking her in disinterestedly, and then returning to his task. He finishes the sequence, and it flares before disappearing into just white lines that won't activate unless focused upon up-close or touched by someone with magic. "I can ask my co-worker to have his nightmare horror apprentice handle the search instead. I'm presently trying to find Osaka-san before that becomes necessary. The body count will be much lower if I get there first." He then steps back, and puts his hands behind his back. "Counselor Inai, I presume. Or is it 'Stellar'? Sailor Moon mentioned the name, but it was new to me. You're the only other person I know to be involved, so..." He shrugs.

    "I'm very skilled at connecting the dots." he says with a winning smile that doesn't reach his weary, stormy blue eyes.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Right about now I'm not particularly concerned about the size of the body count, as long as it's the kidnappers and not the kidnapee." Kyouka muses, almost as if considering the thought and whether or not that makes her a terrible person. "Frankly, whatever method finds her the fastest is a-ok with me. If your-" she gestures vaguely at the wall, "magic horoscope thing can get it done, then good. I'm not going to stop you trying."

    Nephrite mentions her henshin-name, her mahou ID as it were, but rather than be upset or even particularly shocked, she just shrugs her shoulders. "I appreciate the effort on my behalf, but the truth of the matter is there's never been much difference between Kyouka Inai and Stellar. Never seen much point in hiding what I am- makes it easier to tell who's an enemy and who isn't." Her eyes, sharp as knives, glance up and down his form. He's quite a lot taller than she is.

    "Nephrite, I presume. Darien mentioned you were going to help. Nice uniform. I might go for white, rather than grey, but.."

Nephrite has posed:
    Bowing his head slightly in greeting and acknowledgment, Nephrite seems to think that over. Something about wearing a white uniform stirs a memory... But a shadow passes over his face, and the thought and memory are both gone. "The body count resulting from setting his hellhound on the trail would likely include a great many civilians between point A and point B. I'm not going to make some sardonic quip like, 'I thought you would care more about innocents, given your role' or whatever. You didn't know, so I'm telling you. Not only does Naru need to be rescued before she gets hurt, we also have to do it before it's decided it would be more expedient to let Pyrite off her leash. If nothing else, please believe that I want both of those preventative goals to be reached promptly."

    Sighing, Nephrite straightens up and tiredly passes a hand over his eyes to clear them of sleepiness. "Yes. Please pardon my manners. I should have introduced myself first. Nephrite is my name. Good to finally make your acquaintance, Counselor." He stares at the writing on the wall, as if expecting it to do something. When nothing happens, he says, "I'll need to visit the Osaka family's store after all. It's fortunate fate has led you here, since it will work better with one of the objects associated with the incident present as well." Then he glances over, noting the arm in-a-sling. "Would you like to have a seat?" he gestures. There's a comfortable-looking bench in the hallway at Kyouka's side. Was it always there or did--No, it wasn't there, and it's made of psychoplasm. Kyouka can sit on it or not, it'll dissolve on its own hours from now.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Well, I certainly appreciate the concern about civilian lives." Kyouka says, and it's utterly impossible to tell if she's being sarcastic or not. She doesn't know, of course, that Nephrite is the architect, or at least an architect, of the Midnight Tokyo Project, but she is certain he is involved in some capacity. Therefore the comment might be sarcastic- but it could just as easily be genuine. Because that is something she would appreciate. "But let's not forget the other important bit. Before that flame-haired hussy decides to skip town." Her lip twists, faintly. "The idea of sending a nightmare horror after her has definite appeal. Though not at the cost of bystanders. I suppose." She almost sounds like she's admitting that under duress.

    "I'm not sure 'good' is the term I'd used, considering our general antagonistic allegiances and the fact that it's happening under the present circumstances." Kyouka sighs faintly herself, "But then again, I've never been the type to let something silly like 'moral objections' get in the way of pragmatic solutions.

    She looks at the writing. "Which I am not sure this is, but then again I've never been the star-gazing type. Bad associations from the past." She pauses. "Excuse me, 'objects'?" She raises a brow. "Full-fledged person, last I checked. Even human, by certain definitions."

    The bench is noted. She does not sit. "I'm good, thanks. Too much energy, which is why I'm here at this godforsaken hour to begin with. You really think this is going to locate Osaka-san?" She peers distrustfully at the constellations. At least they don't smell like Dark Energy.

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite doesn't argue the point. He just inclines his head in acknowledgement. "As you say." Then he orients his gaze back on the writing. "Planets are objects. Stars are objects. From my perspective, I do not see any meaningful difference between them and you, or you and I. From the perspective of the Stars, we are all just objects traveling along our prescribed trajectories, in accordance with fate. We may intersect, sometimes travel in parallel, collide and be damaged or destroyed, or even join together to form a single new object with a shared destiny." He raises his hand and sweeps it downwards through the air.

    Magic flares back at that empty dorm room, as the hallway darkens noticeably, and very shortly softly-glowing white lines and motes of starlight appear in the air, on the walls, floor, and ceiling, and the heart of both Nephrite and Kyouka glow in the form of miniature suns that can be seen through their own bodies, like flesh and bone don't even exist, or are just a suggestion -- a blanket covering something luminous and beautiful and unique, hinting at its true form but not doing its nature justice. The lines start connecting the points.

    "Everything is connected. The Stars know everything... And so I seek out their knowledge for finding the missing Naru Osaka." Other points of light drift along, or move quickly through the magical 'night sky'. They give off impressions. 'That one is Mamoru.' 'That one is Usagi.' 'That one is Setsuna.' and so on, some impercetible quality about them that shows their trajectory through fate and is uniquely them. Mamoru, or Darien, or Hematite, is a star that is trailing star dust, distorted as though being pulled by something with greater gravity.

    It isn't visible, this thing that pulls upon him, but when any other tiny mote of light crosses Mamoru's wake, it distorts and blinks out like it never existed. The magical equivalent of a black hole.

    Nephrite points towards this space that looks no different from any other, but keeps gobbling up lives that draw too close. "This is Pyrite." he says quietly. He draws a finger across and the view 'scrolls' towards a different part of the display. "Here am I, Jadeite, and so on." he point towards black motes that spiral, spiked and hostile, around each other, all centered on the Mamo-star. The black stars have a glimmer of light at the heart of them, but they too are being splintered by something unseen that is feeding upon them--

    (a cloud with shadow teeth and glowing red eyes, and it's reaching out for Onii-chan and his friends)

    --and Nephrite's star looks like it's on the verge of breaking free, and another looks like it's about to just shatter into pieces and stop existing entirely, and the other keeps turning and changing whimsically like it neither knows nor cares where it winds up, and there's another one, still bright, that seems to be hanging around the outer perimeter, rotating vertically rather than horizontally, so that it doesn't pass near that huge unseen emptiness.

    "Somewhere in here, among all of this..." Nephrite gestures around. "...Is the young miss Osaka. Connecting the dots is going to be far more efficient in finding her than just casting out a net into infinity and hoping her captor falls into it."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "You know, I've never really believed in destiny." Kyouka says, with such reality-shattering irony that the entire display nearly falls apart from her sheer impertinence. Luckily this isn't a magic statement, it's just sheer bloody-minded stubbornness, so it doesn't actually cause the universe to self-destruct in protest. But it's a near thing.

    She watches the display. It's impressive, she has to admit, like a 3D holographic planetarium. In the dorm hallway. There's something... off, about her own representation, though. It's first noticeable when that glow appears within her. Rather than a pure sun of magic, or power or soul or whatever it is, the light at her center is muted. As if there is some interference, or shroud preventing that light from fully shining through. It has a strange reddish-orange cast to it, that light which does flicker and leak through the obstruction.

    People they both know are picked out amongst the moving simulated objects. Mamoru, Usagi. Nephrite himself. But where is Kyouka? Not where you would expect her to be. Perhaps she is that strange red star, a crimson point of light, in proximity to Mamoru and the others so named, but not in close orbit as they are. A red dwarf, burning fiercely with obstinate power hidden beneath shrouding dust. It moves somewhat erratically, as if it's path is not determined by the same laws as those moving the others, but rather influenced by something 'other'. Not the same unseen cloud of shadow and red eyes that influences Nephrite and his cohorts, but something else. Still following a discernable pattern, simply one which is somehow divorced from the rest of the map. There's a sense that this muted red star is on a trajectory that originated outside the scope of the current arrangement, as if coming in from afar... but perilously close to a collision course with the main players so highlighted. It might enter a harmonious co-orbit- or smash through the whole arrangement.

    Of course, maybe that's not Kyouka at all. She's not looking at it. And she's not an expert.

    She looks a little nervous. As if being exposed to so much information, or perhaps exposed by it, makes her uncomfortable. "Is it possible locating her captor using... this... might be somewhat easier? She seemed the type to.. make an impact."

Nephrite has posed:
    If Nephrite notices the discomfiture, he is sufficient well-mannered and classy not to mention it. Instead he goes directly on to the question. "The odd thing is that I haven't already found Sunbreaker. A second point of reference, OSA-P Jewelers, should be sufficient. If she has really gone out of her way to isolate herself from others, then I may have to seek out a third point to complete the triangulation. But I have no idea what that third point would be if both home and business are covered..." Nephrite strokes his chin in thought. "Well, if you will accompany me, we can at least narrow down the possibilities." He extends his arm for Kyouka to take. "Shall we?"