900/Lost & Found: Human (First Take)

Lost & Found: Human (First Take)
Date of Scene:	19 December 2023
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Usagi and Mamoru go looking for Nephrite to purify him, and are unsurprised to find Naru there, but VERY surprised to find another young person in attendance... Usagi's brother?!
Cast of Characters:	Nephrite, Naru Osaka, Usagi Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba

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Nephrite has posed:
    Three days ago.

    Nephrite stumbled through the halls of the royal palace in the Dark Kingdom. He didn't wish to appear before Queen Beryl in his current state, but also knew she would be expecting him to report directly. His staggering led him to slam his shoulder against the wall to his left as he closed his eyes for a moment against his spinning vision. He let out a slight grunt. It was nothing compared to the injuries he had suffered.

    He had put on a brave face for Naru and Endymion, but La Crima had wounded him deeper than he let on. With most of his Dark Energy stripped from him by the Silver Crystal, his failing half-human half-youma physiology wasn't regenerating properly. He was leaving smears of dark green as he dragged himself along the ancient architecture, with mosaics depicting Her Majesty's inevitable victory over the cowardly Moon Princess and the divine shadow of Metallia laying waste to the civilizations of man.

    Such imagery was everywhere, even if Beryl herself hadn't necessarily demanded it. The youma had little else to do while they had waited for their leader to return to them. Ordering himself, and taking one hand away from his side, where the blood had begun to leak through his uniform (that's no good, he thought to himself light-headedly), probably meaning his entire back was the same, he straightened up, took a deep breath, and cast a glamour over himself to make him look presentable.

    Her Majesty probably wouldn't be fooled by such a simple illusion, but at least any creatures lurking in her court wouldn't see him vulnerable and start getting Ideas about helping him to have an accident involving slipping on a knife in the ribs and falling down some bottomless pits.

    Taking in a breath despite the pain, Nephrite made a mental note to have his blood cleaned off the walls and floor before anyone else noticed, and teleported before his Queen.

    Yesterday.

    Nephrite is lying in his quarters within the Dark Kingdom, on a very soft and comfortable bed. He was pale, dizzy, and still bleeding, but it was down to a small trickle as his Dark Energy reserves filled themselves from being here. He could feel not only his strength returning but also more of his body changing into something inhuman. The more times he replaced damaged flesh, the more of it was replaced with monster.

    He needed to get the Silver Crystal. Only then could he correct his mistakes, gain esteem in Her Majesty's eyes, and spare Naru from the coming apocalypse. Perhaps he would even become the new leader of the Shitennou, now that Hematite had revealed himself to be a traitor.

    Or maybe Mamoru would be a good replacement. He was like Nephrite's brother after all.

    His head is a mess of conflicting ideas, dissonant memories, and raging emotions, all with a persist pulse in his core, spreading influence just as it spread tendrils of demonic flesh to replace what was once mortal and fragile.

    Aside from making appearances at the Midnight Tokyo site to oversee construction, and advance plans for an alternate power source, he has mostly just been recuperating, stewing in the darkness, and being furious at La Crima for ruining everything. Nephrite hadn't reported her yet, because he wanted to take revenge personally. She deserved to be executed at his hands, not anyone else's.

    With a surge of adrenaline, he swings his legs over the edge of the bed, sits up, and glares into the shadows, cold sweat still dripping down his face. He waits until the shadows look back at him.

    Then he asks them for more power.

    They eagerly supply it.

Nephrite has posed:
    Present day.

    A tall man in a long black coat is seated on a bench in a park in Juuban Ward. It's still snowing after the rumored appearance of youkai in the park several days ago, and it has piled up considerably. Children are playing in said snow now that school is over for the day, and Masato Sanjouin is waiting for one specific child to appear. He has allowed a young boy to encounter him a few times already. It never appears as though he is the one seeking out the meeting, it's always the youth who runs to him. After all, as an older student he is Very Cool. Especially considering the cars he drives, the expensive electronic toys he has purchased, and his in-depth knowledge of the alleged mystical goings-on around town, and familiarity with all of the same anime, manga, and games that the boy is interested in.

    He even got the boy a signed copy of Galatea In Hell, made out to the child himself by Shin Hayazaki. It's right there on the cover, just like he promised.

    'Shingo Tsukino'.

    Masato turns his head when he hears his name called out, and smiles. Then he starts radiating as much Dark Energy as he can, while seemingly doing nothing but sitting there and waiting for Shingo. The temperature drops noticeably, and birds take off, scattering in every direction except here.

Naru Osaka has posed:
It's cold, its even snowing a little, but in spite of that, it's a good day for a walk. There's a few people out and about in the park.. fewer now that there's a beacon of Dark Energy discouraging people from wandering too close.

Except one.

Naru comes up and sits on the bench next to where Nephrite is oooooozing Dark Energy everywhere, taking a sip from her steaming coffee as she does.

"If I'd realized you were going to be here, I'd of brought you a coffee." Naru comments mildly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Several days have passed since Usagi Tsukino revealed to the Shitennou, Senshi, and probably half the Mahou in Tokyo that the one and only Sailor Moon is also the one and only Princess Serenity, heir to the Silver Millennium, rightful wielder of the Phantom Silver Crystal, the princess she'd been looking for all this time-

It had taken the entire weekend for Usagi to be able to transform back into herself, the herself she was born as (this time), the self she was most familiar with (when she didn't forget). Maybe it would have been easier if she'd spent more time in her dorm and less time in the Gates of Time, eating healing candies and commiserating over the quality of MREs, but that would have required leaving Mamoru (and Kazuo), so obviously she hadn't done that.

Obviously.

Still, the result is, she has normal skin again, that doesn't give off a faint glow. Her eyes are her own again, a bright and warm blue instead of the fathomless depths of a night sky, and the moon's symbol is no longer etched to her forehead.

Her hair is four feet longer, though, and given that it had already nearly knee-length...

Let's just say today's marked her second hasty haircut, with little to no sign her hair was going to quit growing anytime soon. At least she'd skipped classes today; there were things more important than school happening, even if the term was nearly over and that meant there were tests and tests and tests and -

"Luna thinks my hair keeps growing because my body's changing," Usagi huffs, clutching Mamoru's hand as they walk together, heading down the path away from Soryuu Shrine and the Forbidden District, and into wider Juuban; Pluto had not been joking when she said the Gates would return them to the place they'd entered at! She's wearing a heavy jacket for the snow, and had brought one along for Mamoru as well, stolen from her dad's closet without shame or hesitation. "I'm not super impressed! Don't we have enough changing!"

Her chatter is casual and a little inane, honestly, mostly a distraction because -

Mamoru had expected, when it was time for them to track down his rock band, his boys, his Shitennou, that the path would lead them to Obsidian Tower. Maybe Nephrite's mansion.

Instead, he's somewhere here in Juuban, and there's something... off putting about that.

And at the park, Shingo Tsukino is wearing a heavy jacket of his own, a huge grin on his face. "Masato-nii!"

The older boy is great. He's got a cool car and awesome tech that he doesn't mind letting Shingo touch (unlike his annoying sister, who always hogs the Playstation when she's home), and he got him a copy of Galatea in Hell, with a signature, and no weird ink splotches like the one baka Usagi had brought home, and he's just - cool!

And he's... hanging out with Naru-chan?

Shingo's run slows to an uncertain walk as he gets closer, seeing the two together. It's like seeing two different parts of his world clash, and he's uncertain, for a moment.

"Um... Naru-chan, you know Masato-nii? Hey, she's not coming around too, is she?" She being his sister, who he's choosing not to name, as if speaking it aloud would summon her.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Fortunately, Usagi having hasty haircuts meant that there were scissors which meant Mamoru could beg Kunzite to cut his hair. It almost worked, except that hacking four feet off of still-long-anyway hair can leave hair still absolutely fine but trying to do short back and sides without at least something resembling a barber's kit is asking for a botch job. So nevermind, the scissors, not fortunate. Mamoru still has longish hair that really needs a cut, and it's tucked into the collar of Usagi's dad's coat.

"Changing how? I don't think you're changing any more than, you know, fourteen year old girls change anyway?" Mamoru says, kind of mystified.

His hand, holding his hand, it's so much better now than it was-- Usagi can feel a faint echo, always, of what he's feeling -- can feel the sense of warmth, of home-ness, of welcome -- things that she couldn't feel when he hid everything that wasn't already choked by dark energy. His touch was always warm, but now it's more.

He's still a dork though. "Are you sure your dad won't mind your boyfriend wearing his c-- oh he's this way. Oh no he's this way and so is a bunch of dark energy. Oh man... oh Naru is with him? Look, there, on the bench--"

He doesn't know Shingo at all.

Nephrite has posed:
    Masato's smile fades away to a neutral expression, yet also somehow weary, annoyed, and guilty all in one, when Naru approaches and sits down with him. "If I had realized you were going to be here, I would have chosen somewhere else to do this." he says in the tone of apology, without actually saying he is sorry. He stands up and hands over the compilation of Galatea In Hell volumes 1 through 3, and hidden underneath is the newest volume, as thick as the previous three combined. He smiles back at Shingo.

    "If she shows up, we'll just have to scare her off together, won't we? This is a gathering just for the gentlemen of culture." He tilts his head to Naru as he looks at her. "And also Naru. I didn't bring anything for you, unfortunately."

    Attention snaps to Mamoru when he senses him. This just grows more complicated by the second, doesn't it? Why didn't he consider that Usagi and Mamoru would probably be together, or that Naru would be around Usagi? That seems like a major lapse in judgment to overlook. Well, whatever. He still has the upper hand here. After all, now he has two hostages.

    "I see you received my invitation." he calls out towards Mamoru (or Usagi, they're right next to each other, it could be either). "This is a friend of mine who I wanted to introduce you to. Shingo, you wanted a ride in that one transforming car that looks like the Batmobile, right? Mamoru here wanted a ride too, and I promised him. So how about it? Just us cool kids." He steps closer to Shingo as he speaks.

    Naru is right there. If she does something reckless and heroic, it would be best if he is close enough to grab Shingo and disappear so that she doesn't become collateral damage. Again.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Hi Shingo-chan." Naru greets her not-quite-younger brother with a smile. "Yes, we know each other." She might get just a hint of collatoral cool, by virtue of that, but it seems unlikely.

"Mmm." Naru's comment is quiet at the apology tone. "It's somewhat inevitable that I'd end up here." Because of /course/ she would. That is the nature of her life.

Naru lifts her coffee at the mention of lack of anything for her. "I'm good, thank you though." She stands as well, turning towards Mamoru and Usagi as the pair approaches.

Naru is, indeed, right there. Taking a step closer, because if someone is going to be a hostage here, it probably should be the one who has experience.

Naru takes a sip of her coffee.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I mean, hair doesn't normally grow like six feet in three days," Usagi says, waving a hand at her hair - which really does look fine, because snipping off four feet of hair is fine when you have like five more feet of hair to go. "But - Princess Serenity's hair was long like that, so she thinks that's why mine keeps growing. I'm really hoping it gets the picture and stops soon though, because this is really annoying. But I also hope that's the only thing, because I don't want white hair! I can't pull it off like Kazuo-kun can! It's too mysterious and mature for me!"

She can't sense Dark Energy at all, so she's got no idea of the kind of mess they could be heading towards. She's mostly aware of how warm Mamoru's hand is, because neither of them is wearing gloves, even with the snow. His hand is warm and feelings pulse, feelings of welcome and home and comfort, warm to the soul and not just the touch, and if this is how he always felt before, she understands even better why he hated having Dark Energy.

"I'm sure! I told him it was a coat emergency," actually she had shown him a picture of the ugly green jacket and her papa had offered up his coat immediately, no questions asked. She doesn't need to tell Mamochan that part.

"Dark Eenrgy and Naru-chan? Uwah, he better not be pulling a Sunbr- hey. Hey. That's -" Her voice trails off, whole body gone tense and anxious, because that was definitely - that boy with them, Naru and Nephrite on the bench, but the boy standing around - that was definitely -

"Shingo-kun?"

Her voice doesn't carry, but it doesn't need to - because Nephrite is announcing that he'd invited them, and he must mean the Dark Energy Mamoru sensed, and why is he with her brother-

Shingo isn't going to tell Naru to her face that she's not cool - she's cooler than his blood sister, after all, but still basically his sister, which totally negates the possibility of being cool. Still... "Well... that's... cool," he finds himself saying anyway, before brightening, "Whoa, really? That'd be great - she doesn't get to steal my friends!"

Usagi was always making a fool of herself and being ridiculous, but she was also always making friends with everyone and he did not need her somehow stealing away Masato-nii! The volumes of Galatea in Hell are oohed and aaahed over and then carefully put into his backpack, after several bows of gratitude and excitement. "Thank you!!"

And then - then there's Usagi too, and Masato-nii saying he'd invited her and that guy, and - "Wait, you invited her? But! We're gentlemen of culture! She's not coming on the ride, is she?!"

Usagi stomps her foot and steps closer to the pair - she trusts Naru-chan of course, but Nephrite? Definitely not! "No one is going on any rides! Shingo-kun, did you tell Mama and Papa you're going on rides with strangers?!"

"I never went on any rides! And Masato-nii's not a stranger! Did you tell Mama and Papa you're hanging out with a boy?!" Shingo throws back.

"YES! Now you get away from him right- Masato-nii'?!?!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Hey," starts Mamoru, then blinks. "Hey! Is this what Inai and I sound like arguing? No wonder you thought we were related--"

He considers things he could say. Like 'Naru, where did you get your coffee' or 'I'm her BOYFRIEND thanks Shingo' or 'Masato can you try not being creepy?' or 'actually Usagi invited me to meet your parents tonight, nice to meet you Shingo' and decides on none of them.

What does he say to try and fix this?

"Nephrite, I never released you from your oath." It's said in a tone that's calmly authoritative, spoken like no argument is expected, because why should there be any argument? Endymion's hair is pulled back, his shoulders are straight, and he squeezes Usagi's hand and lets go of it, letting his drop to his sides.

Nephrite has posed:
    "She is most definitely not coming with us," Masato assures Shingo. "Naru is just sort of here at the same time, she can be in the backseat with En--Mamoru. Meaning we're leaving Usagi-san behind." He says this smugly. Before the corners of his mouth go up just that extra bit to turn smug into menacing, when paired with the subtle red glow in his eyes. "We can discuss oaths along the way. First, hand over the Silver Crystal."

    He raises one hand so it lies across his midsection, forefinger extended to point towards Shingo from his side, out of view. "I'll bet she didn't tell you, did she, Shingo? Your clumsy older sister broke something very important to me. I need her to pay it back. That's why she was invited. You and I aren't going to hang out with someone so lame that she'd break an ancient shrine. Don't you know how irreplaceable those are, Usagi-san?" he asks with mock dismay, shaking his head slowly at her.

    He is trying... So hard to stay on task. To focus. This is what he should be doing now, right? He needs a new power source for Midnight Tokyo, and it will please Her Majesty as well. Then he and Mamoru will finally be safe. Maybe he can even turn him and Naru into youma too, so they'll live forever. Even through the end of the world.

    Words impact the shell around his mind, like a ship's hull being pelted with small objects. Potentially a concern, but not innately damaging.

    Not without a lot more force, and a lot more repetition to wear away the armor. Metallia, caged herself, knows very well how to craft secure cages for others.

    "It was in the newspaper wasn't it? And online? Hundreds of billions of yen at a conservative estimate, and the same girl who destroyed a historical and spiritual site hundreds of years old is walking around with the Silver Crystal. You clearly can't be trusted with it." Nephrite's other hand raises held out, palm open, for the treasure of the Silver Millennium. He narrows his eyes. "We all know that all you can do is break things."

    The wound on his back is throbbing. Unimportant. Ignore it. Ignore the wet feeling as he bleeds into his coat, and the fire in his ribs, and the turmoil of Naru being here, watching him be this monster, and his Prince speaking of vows and oaths, and... And what in the Hells is that goddamn noise he keeps hearing in his head? It's like a drill made of fire in his brain. How is he supposed to concentrate like this?

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I don't think it quite works that way." Naru comments gently as Nephrite just flat out demands the Silver Crystal. She's on the far side of him from Shingo and she reaches a hand out to settle on his arm.

Because certainly that will totally help his concentration, and staying on task. Mostly she hopes that it ensures she's a better hostage than Shingo. Or at least a more persistant one.

"The shrine is fine." Naru quietly tells him. "None of the shrines were destroyed."

He's unlikely to believe her, but she'll try at least.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Shingo and Usagi can argue forever. Really, they can! They're siblings, after all, and she's five years older than him, and so embarrassing, so Shingo has a wealth of things to make fun of her about.

But none of them have ever been really serious. Not like what Masato-nii is saying.

"Hey... what oath? Masato-nii, what's he talking about? And - what shrine? Even baka Usagi wouldn't mess up one of those -"

His face is full of confusion and slowly growing concern. Arguing with Usagi is normal - it's nothing serious at all, except, he's never left her behind, not unless he was like, closing the door in her face, not - and she sounds really upset, and Masato-nii is... "What's he talking about? Hey, aneki, what's he mean?"

Usagi's face had grown pale and furious the longer Nephrite spoke, his mocking dismay needlepricks in her temper. She'd been expecting this, no matter what Mamoru said about not reveraling identities - she just, had never really planned what would happen if he went ahead and did what she'd feared and put out of her mind.

But here was her little brother, in harm's way, all because of her -

No.

All because of some oath-breaking jerk.

"I'm not giving the Phantom Silver Crystal to you or anyone else," she says sharply, "Not to some oath-breaking jerk who'd betray his best friend for power. Shingo! Get away from him, he's a liar, and he's dangerous."

The harsh anger in her voice was shocking for Shingo, who'd only ever seen his sister's anger as something to laugh at, temper tantrums over being made to wait outside because their Mama was angry. This sharp eyed, scowling girl isn't obviously recognizable as the same sister he's always known. It - she - reminds him of... that time. When something had happened, and he'd kept getting those burns, and their Mama had actually told her to come home, and she'd stalked out of the house -

"What's going on," he repeats, but his voice is shaky now, and he backs up a step.

Usagi keeps her glare fixed on Nephrite, and there's more than just her own anger in her voice, now. "All I do is break things? Of all who live, that's not something you get to tell me. Come back to your prince, Nephrite. It's not too late for you. Naru-chan's telling the truth. Even after what you did, nothing permanent happened this time."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You followed me twice. One more time, my friend, my brother. Follow me home."

Mamoru takes a step toward Nephrite, and he's still calm, but now he's firmer, more commanding. He takes another step forward, and another, and he holds out his hand. "You almost had it right, there. I'm Endymion. Remember? You wrote it in your book that you sent to me, and even in that book, that demon kept redacting you as you put the words down. You didn't just write it, though -- I remembered, truly, when I almost died." Sorry, Shingo. This is just going to get weirder.

"I refuse to lose you again. I'm alive because of the girl you made cry, Neph. She saved me with the Silver Crystal. And I still want you back. Come home. You can, you're allowed -- your oath to me takes precedence over any contracts you made with the usuper or her puppeteer. You're mine. Come home."

He's still holding out his hand as he speaks, and as he speaks he walks forward, closer to Neph and Naru. "Take my hand. Listen. Don't speak," he says, shaking his head as Nephrite prepares to begin an incantation. He starts speaking in that lilting language Naru's heard a little of, that Usagi hasn't yet -- it's beautiful, it sounds like what Elven ought to; it sounds like liquid, like sunlight on a babbling brook in a sylvan wonderland of tall, tall trees and a carpet of fragrant pine needles underneath. "<The stars know everything, and as members of the College of Astrology we are to use that knowledge foremost for the betterment of our fellow man,>" Endymion says, then says in Japanese, "Not for personal gain nor self-aggrandizement have we come here but to focus our gaze upon the heavens. Like the eternal wisdom they personify, the stars are our guide in the way of truth and knowledge and justice and light. May we follow them thus forever and ever."

Nephrite has posed:
    It's clear on his face that Nephrite--Masato--Nephrite is being torn apart. He is struggling. Naru's hand on his arm, the guilt over loving her instead of Jupiter-reborn chasing his feelings back into his guts, the fear of a child that he has never wanted to make suffer, the opportunity to use him against Sailor Moon and finally achieve what he has spent all these months working towards, the oath that continues to pound against his defenses louder and harder every moment, the shell of darkness that continues to blind him to the truth that's right in front of him... And the burning drill that penetrates all of it, bringing only pain, nothing else.

    The shrine was destroyed. He saw it. He saw Sailor Moon murder Himeko by destroying her connection to the world. Right? Or was it that Hannah person, who injured the shrine, and made it bleed? How can they possibly promote Pyrite to full Dark General if she's gone now? And the message that Himeko sent him, old, from before she went into the void, and yet eerily relevant.

    She was always more prescient than any of them, wasn't she? Was it a caution or encouragement? A message for him to understand now, at this exact point in time, or just her speaking her own inner thoughts?

    The open hand raises, to hover over Shingo's head as he steps back. Darkness swells around Nephrite, visible to the eye, as a Shadow bearing his face writ in fire emerges from him and puts its burning-black arms around him.

    His eyes start to fill completely with red.

    Himeko's message.

    I must succeed.

    His mouth starts to move, arcane energies flowing between one hand and the other, preparing to use the beginning of his incantation. 'The Stars know everything...' He is pushing to complete the mental steps as Endymion approaches, with furious Usagi at his back, and he needs to pour his Shadow into Shingo, and control him, and that way he can... What? Do what? What is he trying to succeed at? What is Naru trying to stop him from doing? The shrine's still intact? How? Impossible! He saw it, but...

    Then his Prince is speaking the words. The First Oath that Nephrite took. The one before he became a Knight of Endymion. The Second Oath that he was almost excommunicated from the College of Astrology for taking, but this same Prince spoke on his behalf against the Council. Oathbreaker. That's what Usagi called him. It's true. He broke his first oath by swering himself to Endymion, and then he broke his second oath by accepting a death goddess, a demon queen, a manifestation of pure evil as his master. But why? What did he get out of it? Why can't he remember?

    His mouth moves, silently mouthing the words to match Endymion's, his eyes wide with wonder, red retreating from his stormy blue eyes, and his Shadow creeping back inside of him. Finally, when Endymion finishes, Nephrite looks like his finally at peace after far, far, far too long being trapped in torment. Perfect serenity, so to speak.

    "Do it now," he says hoarsely to Usagi. That gravely, rough, slighly husky voice that he often conceals with a clear baritone, for fear that he will be rejected for the sound of his speaking. He is weakened. He is bleeding. And as dark green starts to bleed through his clothing, reverted to his Shitennou outfit instead of his modern clothing disguise, it looks like he is out of time.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Ground zero for the struggle, Naru has no plans to step away, or let go of Nephrite's arm. A grounding, even if it comes with an edge of guilt that Naru has no idea about.

Even as that shadow pours out, and his eyes start to fill utterly with red, Naru's touch is there to remind him of where he should be, what is important to pay attention to. Endymion's voice. The simple touch of love and friendship.

As he finds peace and starts to slump, Naru's touch is there to support him, keeping him standing. "I'm here."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Masato shimmers and falls away, leaving Nephrite - bedraggled, wounded, bleeding green, Nephrite, and Shingo freezes in horror, in disbelief, and Usagi -

Usagi closes her eyes for a moment, willing away horror and frustration and focusing on worry and compassion. Her hand goes to her pocket, where the world's single most powerful jewel rests, because frankly, she hasn't found a better way to store it yet.

It sparkles in her palm, through her fingers, slightly larger than an acorn, warm to the touch. The power in her - the power that's started living in her, in her chest, in her core, begging to be released - jumps at her call. The gem sparkles and with a rush of power like silver sparkles sweeping from her hand and spreading to her whole body, Usagi Tsukino becomes Serenity, the layers of her white dress delicate, floating in the wind.

Shingo breathes out some words his Mama and Papa would be very upset to know he knew.

Serenity ignores that for the moment, stepping forward, the gem in her hand glowing brighter and brighter.

"This will hurt," she tells him, gentle, and then the Moon Stick is in her free hand, and the Silver Crystal fits into it neatly, naturally, the gap in the crescent moon base filled by the crystal.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

The second sun doesn't make an appearance. Instead, with the Silver Crystal inset, when the carved circle of golden light is complete, the entire circle fills with light and blasts outward, a solid beam of light the size of a man blazing outward.

It will, indeed, hurt.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The moment Neph says 'do it now', Mamoru lunges forward and takes Nephrite's hand-- the one opposite the arm that Naru is holding-- and floods him with probably about two fifths of all the healing he did NOT do whilst employed by Beryl Holdings, Ltd. "Yell Refresh! Or Reset! Or-- something-- just don't resist, it definitely makes it hurt worse if you resist! Here--"

The flood of golden warmth is a counterpoint to the silver crystal's might; the Moon's healing excises the claws in Nephrite's soul while the Earth's healing fills in the scored flesh and the gaps where dark energy had been holding pieces of Nephrite together. It's not like the sun, terrible and unforgiving -- it's like the sun in late afternoon at the treeline looking into a flowering meadow, warm and hazy and promising lazy days and fireflies at night, a nice breeze ruffling the tall grass in waves like the shimmering over a big lake.

"Hang in there--!"

Nephrite has posed:
    Flesh and blood that were being mutated by exposure to demonic energy and evil influence are purged from their vessel. The Silver Crystal's light burns through him, tracing the tendrils of inhuman tissue from their tips to their roots, scourging major parts of Nephrite's body out of him. Without the healing from Mamoru there is a high chance he would be unable to survive, or at least be crippled by the damage suffered.

    Purification isn't gentle. It removes corruption, and too much of Nephrite had been corrupted, physically and spiritually. So he is caught been pain and relief, trying not to fight the light, but thrashing against the pain as Naru holds onto one arm and Mamoru onto the other. Wounds open and close rapidly, expelling the poison, at the cost of bodily destruction and reconstruction, from the inside out.

    He manages to resist screaming until the very end, when Metallia is expunged from his soul.

    But he isn't the only one screaming.

    
    A crystal emerges from and glows upon his forehead, green shafts of light radiating from it in all directions, and casting Nephrite's Shadow out behind him on the ground.

    He thought it was his shadow all this time. He thought it was his projection of his own soul. But it was a curse placed upon him by Metallia, a traitor in his soul.

    As the Shadow burns, screams in rage and pain, and dissolves into nothingness, though not without great struggle, all of that Dark Energy is finally ejected and eradicated, and the weight of 14,000 years of slavery sloughs right off him, visibly.

    Nephrite closes his eyes, breathing heavily, and rests his weight upon Mamoru and Naru, almost leaning on the latter. Finally, Nephrite opens his eyes, and says calmly, peacefully, "I must succeed. Very clever, little ghost. I must succeed at coming back to the side I belong on."

    Then he looks to Usagi, Naru, Shingo, and finally Mamoru.

    His lips quiver a bit as he fights not to break down completely. Then he says, "I'm so sorry for everything."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru has some vague idea on how much this is about to hurt. She's only had a tiny taste of how much purification sucks, and that isn't THIS.

Naru braces to be able to quite literally hold him up as things get rough. Absoltuely rough.

Naru watches the Shadow burn away and then considers the crystal. She stretches up on tippy toe, to be able to brush her hand against his face. "Hi. Welcome back."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The power that pours from the Silver Crystal is healing - but healing in the way that an antiseptic is healing, in the way that a scouring pad against filth is healing. It is the power to set right that which has been made wrong, which has been corrupted.

So much of Nephrite was made wrong, was corrupted, and as such, so much is lost.

That's where Mamoru comes in. That's where the Earth comes in, for though the beauty of the Moon is cold and pure, the beauty of the Earth is warm with life.

For every wound Moon Healing Escalation carves into Nephrite's body, there is Mamoru to fix it. For every brutal tear made in flesh once tainted by Dark Energy and Metallia's curse, there is golden warmth to mend it.

When finally the shadow burns and the Nephrite stone emerges, standing pure and gleaming on Nephrite's forehead, the power stops.

Nephrite may not shout the word refresh, but he has surrendered to purity nonetheless, and - and there's Naru, to comfort him. There's Mamoru, too.

Serenity cannot. Usagi, cannot. Silver hair brightens to gold, faintly glowing flesh warms to a peachy hue, and sheer layers stacked upon each other are replaced by a purple winter coat and black leggings. Behind Nephrite, watching with wide, wide eyes, is Shingo, and Usagi has some explaining to do.

Tucking the Silver Crystal back into her jacket pocket, she heads to her brother to do just that.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Purification is a lot rougher if you've been using dark energy to heal yourself for a couple of years, for sure.

Usagi goes to explain some things to Shingo, and Mamoru-- well, for now, he's bodily insisting on a group hug with Naru and Nephrite. He also looks exhausted. "Hey," he says, laughing a little and supporting Neph on his other side, "only be sorry for listening to a bunch of stuffy old astronomers more readily than your living prince standing in front of you, and Naru right there... literally the only reason I thought of that oath was because you put it in your journal, so I guess good deal?"

The aforementioned prince takes a deep breath, then sighs. "I jest. There's a lot, but it's partly my fault for recruiting you back into the shadow of the beast, too-- if I'd understood more than just that I wanted you back by my side, things would have been very different. But now's not the time for blame, it's the time for naps. Come on, let's get you to the bolthole outside time." A beat. "Long story."

A pause, and Mamoru glances back to Usagi and Shingo, then makes a complicated face. "Well. We have a few minutes. So, have you ever heard of Sailor Pluto...?"