855/After the Battle: Hikawa Shrine

After the Battle: Hikawa Shrine
Date of Scene:	05 December 2023
Location:	Hikawa Shrine
Synopsis:	After the battle for Hikawa Shrine, Sailor Moon has some answers. Everyone else has some questions.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Ami Mizuno, Minako Aino, Amanda Faust, Iona Hikawa

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Hikawa Shrine is safe, and the Dark Kingdom's general was defeated. In the immediate aftermath, there had been civilians to rouse and encourage on their way, but the second that everyone was well, Sailor Moon had retreated with her friends and allies into one of the shrine's halls, where they could sit down together and speak as a group.

After all, everyone had some pretty reasonable questions.

"So... that happened, didn't it?" Maybe that was too flippant? She bowed, quick and honest but still with cheer. "Thank you for helping today, Cure Fortune, Amy-chan. Everyone has questions, and I'll answer as much as I can."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"There's a few that I've not met yet myself," Sailor Mercury remarks with her attention fixing on Amy and Cure Fortune. Dipping her head forward in a half-bow of greeting she offers, "I'm Sailor Mercury. Your help was quite beneficial today, thank you."

Again she looks to Sailor Moon with a small smile. "I think we could all use some explanations to catch up on what's going on, Sailor Moon."

Minako Aino has posed:
Still transformed and currently offering her lap to her fellow Senshi whose shrine had come under assault, Venus looks between the others gathered. Some she'd met...though she'd met them as Sailor V rather than Venus the first time. For the moment she's silent, though the other two are allowed to speak before she would. After all, she couldn't ask if this place was targeted deliberately without outing Rei.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy rubs the back of her neck. "I didn't really do much. And sorry for yelling at you earlier, I... ...anyway."

    She bows to Sailor Mercury. "Nice to meet you."

    To Sailor Moon she asks, "So, um..." She scratches the back of her neck, still feeling kind of awkward with some of what she's about to ask... "Who was that, what did they want, and had you ever seen Hematite associate with them before? Err, him?"

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona had been looking around at the shrine as they moved their way in. It was a pretty shrine, well-built and eye-catching even to Iona's unprofessional eye. Maybe she could bring Sakamoto-san here one day? With Hino-san's permission at least. It sounds like something that Cure Spanner would enjoy looking at.

This is not the time to think about that, though. This is the time to ask questions. "Thanks once more, Sailor Moon. These are people you trust and to whom you would show the Shed, right?" She is going to untrasform in the event of a yes.

To Sailor Mercury Iona likewise bows and introduces herself. "Nice to meet you, Sailor Mercury, I am Cure Fortune."

"Who are those two people then?" She is not bringing up the boyfriend thing on her own. They don't know each other enough for that.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"We all freeze up sometimes, Amy-chan, and I was yelling too, remember? I think it was... that crystal, and the Dark Energy he was throwing around," Sailor Moon says, looking sheepish herself.

In the room and gathered around a large square table are the five Inner Senshi, Cure Fortune, and Puella Amy - it's a little crowded, honestly, but they're all able to comfortably sit, even in their henshins. Sailor Moon casts a worried glance at Sailor Mars, laying with her head cushioned on Sailor Venus' lap, and looks up at Cure Fortune.

"Yes, I would trust everyone here with the Shed. Mercury-chan has introduced herself, but these are my teammates! Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus. I know I already thanked you but... I have to do it again. Thank you, for helping us defeat that enemy. Some of us have faced them before but - honestly, that was my first time seeing that guy. I know what he is though, and, well - Hematite helped him because he's that guy's leader. He was one of the Shitennou, the generals of our enemy, the Dark Kingdom - and I'm pretty sure they were here to attack this shrine, because there have been attacks on other shrines in the city."

She looks even more sheepish at saying this, but utterly unashamed, too.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury couldn't really answer that question herself about who Zoisite was. She simply didn't know. Instead she glances toward Sailor Moon with a patient, encouraging smile when she starts to vouch for them as well as explain. Especially when she starts to explain. That had to be a tough sentence to get out and admit to given the situation.

"According to our records, three other shrines have been attacked so far in a similar manner as well as a power plant and art gallery. We're not entirely sure for what purpose yet," comes her rather hesitant admission as she was never fond of providing partial information. "The readings I obtained tonight did seem as if the power in the crystal was the same as the power of the idividual we fought."

A slightly worried, partially impressed note fills her voice as she looks among her fellow senshi and the other two mahou as well. "It was really quite clever. If we hadn't been there to stop it, it had the possibility of growing exponentially in the power it both sent out and absorbed."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona Hikawa nods at the confirmation that people here can all be trusted, and undoes her transformation. "Nice to meet you all again then, I am Iona Hikawa. I had been living in Pikarigaoka with my grandpa, but almost a month ago I transferred to Radiant Heart Academy."

Iona hmms at that information. "So Hematite had probably been watching since the start, and they are planning some big, right? Despite his more neutral leaning Red-san has mentioned?"

Glasan polishes her sunglasses a little and then asks "However, I have never heard of a neutral leader. Isn't that weird?"

Iona nods. "It is, and his supposed neutrality is worrying if we don't know the purpose behind these attacks."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyes widen a bit, though she doesn't speak until Usagi finishes. "There's a Dark Kingdom? And your boyf-- Hematite is the uh, Marshal, Chief General, Minister of War, whatever, of their military? ...Is this like the Phantom Empire that's apparently just a few people? Or is it like, a *kingdom* kingdom, with civilians and stuff? Or is this like a [Maou] deal, an enemy that's more of a horde than a geopolitical entity with civilians and stuff?"

    Amy blinks. "...And why are they attacking shrines?"

    Mercury provides another piece of information. "So if we hadn't happened to be here... he'd have gotten incredibly strong before we could do anything, and everyone around would have... turned on eachother?"

    Amy blinks at Cure Fortune. "I didn't say he was neutral. Only that I've only personally seen him working toward sympathetic goals, until now, but was warned that would not always be the case." She glances at Usagi. "I feel like it would be... It's not our business to pry. I'm sure Us-- Sailor Moon has her reasons, and he can't be a *completely* bad guy with how much he cares for his sister."

    Although, after commenting from such a simplistic worldview, she can't help but remember: No one is a Saturday morning cartoon villain. Even monsters of history had families and loved ones.

    But this is maybe not the place and time to point that out.

    "Ah, I'm... I'm Amanda Faust, of Radiant Heart Academy, 9th grade. I was..." She starts to say more, but something stops her. They see her as one of them. It's nice. Does she really want to give them a reason not to?

    That she'll no doubt let it slip anyway later suddenly seems unimportant, with that thought large in her mind.

    "...I was a normal g... I was normal... I was non-magic until I made a contract with Kyubey, back in July, and my life changed forever. It's been pretty crazy since, but I'm glad to have comrades and hope I can help." She stumbles through a recovery and slightly-altered explanation and bows her head slightly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well... we do know the purpose of these attacks... sort of. We have some information, and we're pretty close to having more!" Sailor Moon looks a little sheepish, because she hasn't fully disclosed all of this to her friends - some, she has, but others, especially the translation efforts... she hasn't. Not until now, becuase she knows they're going to bear fruit.

"Some of you have already met Inai-sensei, who works at Radiant Heart Academy. She's actually a mahou like us - or, well, kind of? She can transform, anyway, and she has some pretty strong defensive powers, and she teaches mundane and magical self defense! She's also always looking for information to help us, and a few months back, she uncovered this... plot, by some people in Obsidian. It's called the Midnight Tokyo Project, and from what we can tell, attacking shrines, like the ones Mercury-chan talked about, is part of that. We're getting more information, because Inai-sensei got ahold of some important info - but it's was all coded, and no one could really understand any of it, until we got it translated. Well, that translation is almost done now... and when it is, we'll really know what all this is about. Inai-sensei asked me to keep a lot of this secret until it was too late to screw it up, and I figure, that's now. I apologize to everyone, for keeping some things secret, it's been really difficult to do!"

She is definitely throwing Inai-sensei under the bus for her decision to keep things secret to protect her very handsome and slightly evil against his will boyfriend. But she still offers a little bow of apology, because she is sorry it was necessary.

Especially since Amy and Iona have so many questions, and there's identity reveals happening, and she isn't going to pressure anyone to share their identity, but she does says, "You both know me," because they do. She'd shared her identity at the Shed, because anyone she was bringing to the Shed, she was willing to trust her identity with - because Naru-chan is her roommate and friend, and she doesn't have a secret identity.

"So. You're both asking great questions... some of them, have long answers. But the short version is: Hematite isn't neutral. He stands with his fellow generals, the other Shitennou. He's - my friend, my partner, but that doesn't make him anyone else's friend. And as you can see - he's as loyal to his team as I am to mine." He hadn't kept her out of the line of fire, after all!

"The Dark Kingdom... the short answer to all of those questions is that they work with Obsidian, which is evil, I hope we all know that? But that's just... a front, I think. I know. They don't have an army, they have youma, and their generaals are - like the Phantom Empire, I guess, where it's a bunch of annoying monsters, and then some really strong guys, and a boss at the top. And Hemachan isn't a complete bad guy! But... I would rather not tell anyone to trust him to be an ally, when he's my friend, not necessarily anyone else's."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury sits there silently a few moments more as henshins are dropped, identities revealed, and more secrets shared. She's sitting seiza with her hands lightly resting on her lap so that she takes up as little space as possible in the small Shrine room, so she doesn't bother to move from this when she closes her eyes and allows her own henshin to drop.

Sitting there now is the mousey, nerdy, top scoring student Ami Mizuno.

Again she smiles looking toward the others to introduce herself properly. "Ami Mizuno, Radiant Heart Academy grade 9. Pleased to meet you all, again."

Reaching out she allows her hand to rest against Usagi's arm offering some bit of quiet support where she can. "I think it's safest for others to think of him as a double agent, or spy. He helps us where he can but he has people to look out for, too, and times that he'll have to do what he needs to that could work against us. So that he won't be discovered, and can continue to keep his people safe."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> I'm sorry for keeping secrets!
    Amy shrugs. "It's fine. Opsec is important, especially when so many of us are new at this. Until you've known us for awhile it's hard to tell who to trust, right?" She doesn't say: especially when your boyfriend is working for the other si--sorry, the enemy's military leader--and you don't want to accidentally let something slip around him.

    Amy nods. "So not an army or country so much as... an organization or, a small group of powerful people with a leader and a lot of monsters." She echoes back, and scratches her head. "I guess that's how it is in magical girl stories, right? Makes sense, what with so many stories--stuff I thought was just stories, I mean--being real, after all."

    Ami reveals herself--and it suddenly seems kind of obvious, Ami was *right here* before the attack and then ran out and Sailor Mercury was there--and Amy points, surprised. "Mizuno-san from Computer Club?!" She drops her own henshin, to the red sweatshirt and knee-length jersey knit skirt she was wearing before, they're really soft and comfy.

    Amy nods at Ami's explanation of Hematite's situation.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Like I have said, I am new, so I haven't met Inai-sensei yet, but she deserves commendation for organising everything to the best of her capabilities", comes Iona's reply. The fact that some things had been kept secret didn't really matter to her, she is new.

She doesn't like that Moon and Hematite are in a relationship despite being on opposite sides, those conflicting feelings must make things hard, even if they haven't hesitated attacking each other things, she feels that kind of thing would wear you out deep down. "I hope you are ok, that kind of relationship between the two of you must be stressful, I think."

She raises an eyebrow when Amy is wishy-washy over herself, but doesn't comment.

"What exactly is Midnight Tokyo then, do we know how close they are to its completion, and what do we have to do to stop it?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Please keep it to yourselves, what you've learned about Hematite," Sailor Moon says, very seriously. "He's loyal to his teammates, and he'd never turn on them."

She's earnest, sincerely, and also laying it on thick, because she doesn't want anyone doing anything that puts him in danger. "He's got his own agenda, and he's not on our side."

Like Ami has said - in some ways he's helped them, but she doesn't want anyone to walk away thinking Hematite, good guy, even if she wants to sing his praises. That would be dangerous. She refuses to jeopardize his quitting plan.

"Just like today, he'd fight you if you got in his way. And - don't worry, we're fine, we're great, we know how to separate all this from us!" She flaps her hands. "But, what they're after - the Midnight Tokyo Project - we're still getting the details on it all, like I said, but it's dangerous. It's a potential threat to the world as we know it - so far, it seems like a plan to merge a part of the Dusk Zone and a part of our Tokyo, which would really mess up Tokyo, and the rest of the world. So we have to stop them. But we can't be at every shrine in the world, unfortunately!"

Her frustration is obvious and real.

"We're going to have more information soon. And when we do... we're going to move forward, fast."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyebrows raise a bit. A threat to the world... of course it is, but it's a little surreal to hear another magical girl tell her that out loud.

    Then she raises her hand like a student in class, and blushes slightly at realizing she did so. Well, it's an understandable habit to have picked up when you've been back in high school for months, after all! "Question! What is the Dusk Zone?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Basically? It's like a negaworld full of Dark Energy, that's like our world, but not?" Usagi shrugs. This is not a good explanation, she knows, but it's what she has.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy mutters, "So it's some kind of Dark World." She can kind of picture Sailor Moon turning into a pink bunny. That's probably not at all going to happen, but it's easy to picture.

    She raises a hand again. "Question! What is Dark Energy?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno turns to stare at Amy a moment at that particular question. A single eyebrow lifts. Surely she wasn't really thinking before asking that question. "What we fight against. We were all hit with it earlier, remember? That's Dark Energy."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Ami. "Well... yeah but... what is it? There might be more to it than like... dark-colored magic, right?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A ding to Sailor Moon's phone, and she glances down, then smiles. She decides not to say it out loud - instead, she uses her communicator to text to the Inner Senshi - He failed. Hikawa Jinja is safe.

To the group, she says, "There are chocolates waiting for me in my dorm," which is true, and a very believable reason for Sailor Moon to be smiling.

"Um, it's like negativity and anger, envy, fear, and you get power from that?" She blinks at Amy. "Like how earlier, we all wanted to fight and scream and our heads hurt?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy holds a hand to her head. "Oh my gods, so we really did get magically whammied? ...I mean, I guess that was obvious, but it's good to have like, a name for it. And know that it's connected to what uh... the other side wields as a weapon."

    And then her eyes widen. "So if Tokyo merges with the Dusk Zone... everyone will be like that all the time?" And then she looks shocked again. "THAT'S why Scorn wants to spread despair! She gets *power* from it!"

    Amy scratches the back of her neck. "Which, I kinda figured something like that, I guess, but it's good to have confirmation..."

    She looks over at Usagi, then away. "Sorry about what I said earlier. In my defense, I guess I really wasn't in my right mind..." and then she looks shocked again as she remembers, and looks back to Sailor Moon, "Wait, you witnessed a *murder*?! Like, a normal murder or a magic murder??? What happened?! Are you okay??"

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Your secret is safe with me", Iona comments. "And I won't promise to stay out of his way, but I will only provoke him if I really have no other choice", Iona says. That's as much as she feels is safe promising in the circumstances.

Really, the mention of a threat of the world is almost incoinceivable. She isn't sure how it compares to the Phantom Empire trying to spread misfortune world-wide, but there really is no point comparing two world-spanning threats, is there?

When Scorn is mentioned, Iona looks at Amy. "That's true too, but the Phantom Empire detests positive emotions at a baseline. Each and everyone of them is a corruption of love. Gluttony, self-love, or disdain of the purity of love, those are examples of what their generals represent, and that's what the world is going to be like under them."

"Chocolates sound good", Iona comments with a smile. "I would like to take you up on that offer, Sailor Moon."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy raises her hand and looks at Iona this time. "Self-love is not a corruption! You need to love yourself too!" And blushes slightly as she realizes what she just said to a bunch of teenagers. Plow on through before anyone can snicker! "Unless you mean like, narcissism."

    Then she cocks her head to one side and looks thoughtful. "So, what, their plan is to rule over the world like devil lords, basing society on their 'evil virtues'? That's messed up... It couldn't possibly result in long-term stability..." she thinks out loud.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Well, of course I was speaking of it in its negative connotations, it's the Phantom Empire we are talking about here", Iona says.

"I don't think they are really thinking of any stability. Really, what stability could there be when they keep imprisoning anyone they can in mirrors to create youma that are evil caricatures of them?" Or just plainly trapping them in mirror, she hasn't seen a Terribad of her sister.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You should stay out of his way for your safety, not his. Destroy his monsters, but if you fight him -" she grimaces. "He's strong. Very strong. I have it on good authority that we'd need a whole hoard to take him down - more of us than it took to take down the guy we fought today."

And today there had been seven, six in active combat.

"And yes, we got magically whammied. It's - I think I've felt it before, but not that strong. And I know that's what they do because... well, it's why so many of the other side are so... dangerous. Scary. Kind of volatile?" Understatement of the year.

"And - yes. A magical murder. There's something you should all know."

She takes a deep breath - her voice still shakes.

"A girl named Firefly killed one of her allies, yesterday. I'm getting the blame - she passed out, after, and well, it's more likely that one of us kills one of them than that they betray their own, right? But... it was her. I don't think she did it on purpose, but - she's dangerous. You have to stay away from Firefly."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
And then, with a little smile, "Candies on campus, at my place, for anyone who wants to hit campus. Whenever you're ready, we can go."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
So, someone is really dead, and Usagi Is being framed to it. That's really a nasty situation all around, being both a witness to the horror of someone's death and the target of a smear campaign. "I am sorry", Iona tells Usagi. "That's really a horrible thing to be subject to, I hope the truth will emerge soon."