1530/Days of Our Outers Episode 1530: Gondor Calls for Aid

Days of Our Outers Episode 1530: Gondor Calls for Aid
Date of Scene:	29 April 2024
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Following right on the heels of 'The Beacons are Lit', Rashmi and Chrono come to visit their friend and help her find her center again. She then fills them in on the current friction amongst the Senshi, gives them some context for what happened in the past, and let them know about Saturn.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Chrono Harlaown, Setsuna Meiou
Tinyplot:	We Got The Beef

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    TXT to Rashmi: GondorCallsForAid.gif
    TXT to Rashmi: Setsuna pissed off Usagi. She needs you.
    TXT to Rashmi: Bring curry. Bring Chrono.

Rashmi was in the middle of catching up on her homework, when Michiru's texts came in. Thirty seconds later, she flew out her third-story dorm window, leaving a note behind on the communal dresser:
    ( Friend emergency. I'll knock before I come back in.)

'Bring curry. Bring Chrono,' the text said, thus her first order of business is to peel off back to home, and raid the fridge. Restaurant food may be excellent, but when the Terios family cooks dinner for themselves, it benefits from the extra love and care that can be afforded to the kitchen. Thus, Rashmi de-henshins just long enough to pop her head into the restaurant's office. "Hi Mami, sorry I can't stay but Setsuchan badly needs a friend so I'm raiding the fridge. Love you!"

And as she bombs up to the apartment, she zaps off a quick message to S2U.

<< Chrono, Setsuchan got in a fight with Usa-chan, and she needs us. I'm getting curry at the restaurant, then going straight to the house, meet me on the way? >>

The Terios elders might believe they just missed their daughter making a high-speed exit from the Korma, and they did... It's just that she headed *upstairs,* henshined again mid-step, and took off the roof like a glittering golden bat out of hell, headed towards Casa del Outer.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had only taken a moment and, well... was a less informative roommate. He'd tell Adrien if he was around, but he didn't leave a note. As a TSAB enforcer, well, he could get called out on all manner of hours, so he never expected him to wait up. He just tried to arrive quietly.

Of course, when the message arrived? He was out a moment later, heading off through the air, little more than a blue streak. It wasn't long before the blue and green streaks were flying through the air, him coming straight at her before switching at a right angle.

And if there was any doubt, at all, that he was taking this seriously? It would likely disappear when he slowed slightly, took her hand...

            <<Stinger Move!>>

And they both found themselves zipping across the city in a rapid, albeit straight, line. Managing to get there in record time, even! If a bit light headed. Touching down felt pretty nice, at least.

Setsuna was family and he knew just how important, even pivotal, Usagi was to all of them.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
For her part, Setsuna had taken Michiru's advice to change...but failed to account for how difficult dressing one's self IS when one only has a singular functional hand.

Especially when the other one is nunfunctional AND a source of pain whenever it's jostled.

Still, after far too many aborted attempts, Setsuna managed to get changed into one of her usual shirts...

     (This one reading: 'YOU MATTER' in big bold letters. Underneath in somewhat smaller ones in the same font, it goes on, 'Unless You Multiply Yourself By The Speed Of Light Squared...Then You Energy')

...then she padded into the kitchen and opened the door to the pantry where, just off to the side of the door she keeps a large first aid kit where it would be most handy in the most likely place for a household injury to occur.

And fair enough, she DID break her hand in the kitchen.

Which leaves her where she will be found, sitting at the kitchen island next to a butcher's block broken clean in two, rummaging through a large first aid kit and swearing at herself for being a fool and not arranging the kit so that someone could more easily use it one-handed.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi only really needs a moment, to reorient herself after Chrono finishes zipping them to their destination. Happily, there is a Chrono here! And she can spend her time catching her brain up with her body, by hugging the Enforcer. Once that's done, she keeps hold of his hand, steps back, and draws in a deep breath. "C'mon," she says, turning toward the front door. "Let's go help our friend."

And it might be proof of her worry, that she doesn't pause to be polite. Just a few quick steps with Chrono in hand to the door, open, and step through. "Setsuchan!" she calls out, as she changes her shoes for house slippers. "It's Rashmi, and I've got Chrono and curry!"

...

It doesn't take an investigative genius to come to the correct conclusion, on how the two came to her doorstep tonight, of all nights.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
The fact it was, honestly, pretty late on top of it? That showed just how important it was for them to be here....

However, the fact they arrived her so incredibly quickly after Michiru left? Told just how highly they prioritized her. His hand left Rashmi's after a moment when he saw what was going on. He stepped forward, and well... "Rashmi? Your healing magic is stronger than mine. Setsuna, hold still." He didn't even wait. Taking her hand, the damaged one, by the writh, he started going through the kit. He was, of course, trained in field first aid. He could do things like set a bone, wrap a proper bandage and such... leaving Rashmi free to handle the magical aspect of things.

GIJ-- Err, TSAB Enforcer!

"Is there any numbness or other pain?" His hand glanced to the cutting board. In two pieces. But it didn't look like it had been picked up and slammed into somebody. More it was just... there. Something had hit it. "Did you hit the cutting board with your hand, or did this come from something else?" he asked. His tone had gone into full authority TSAB enforcer mode and an old saying flashed into his mind. 'Doctors make the worst patients'. He suspected he'd be getting an earful momentarily....

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Indeed, it was no large feat to figure out Michiru meant Rashmi and Chrono when she say she was 'calling reinforcements'.

So when the redhead walks in the door that audibly unlocks the moment her hand touches the knob, she's easily enough spotted straight down the hall into the kitchen.

The greenhaired woman leans over a little so she can look more directly down the hall at the two young Device Mages to wave at them.

That she does so very awkwardly by reaching across her body with her LEFT hand is a prime indicator that her right hand is not working right.

Then, before she's properly processed things, Chrono very nearly seems to teleport the rest of the way to check on her hand.

A bemused but caring smile spreads on her face as she notes him employing first aid and asking pertinent questions...and she reflexively answers in similarly clinical kind, "Feels like a hairline fracture of the fifth right metacarpal. A little bruising, some pain. Mostly when the bone is disturbed."

She huffs a sigh and goes on a bit more normally, "I INTENDED to at least get it set and immobilized before you two got here, but apparently I was a dumbass and didn't organize my first aid kit to be easily used with one hand."

Fortunately for the dual-functionally-handed Chrono, Setsuna lays her kit out in a very logical, ordered manner in a huge repurposed tackle box that splits at the top and unfolds out to either side to reveal a plethora of containers of various medical supplies, all neatly labeled.

Splints and gauze are at the bottom.

As the young man asks how the injury occured Setsuna turns her head a little to look away before shaking her head, "Had a moment. Slammed my hand down on it."

Diagnosis passed on, she looks over at Rashmi, then nods to the redhead, "Feel free to use the counters...but once my hand is taken care of, I can help with late night snackage. I'd prepared stuff to make what turned out to be REALLY GOOD smash burgers, but ended up not using them all. Should be enough for one each for you two and I don't think it'll freeze well."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh no," Rashmi says as she follows Chrono into the kitchen, her tone high and very very faintly sarcastic... Though said with a gentle smile, taking most of the bite out of the words. "you didn't think of the one edge case that people barely think of normally but can easily fix later on..."

Resting a hand on Setsuna's shoulder in passing, she circles the island to fetch the ingredients. "Burgers actually sound really good right now, honestly. But I also raided Papi's fridge, so for *you* -- and the others, later -- there's leftover potoler dolma, bhapa chingri, and dolmas."

Once the burger assemblages are retrieved, a trio of soup containers are extracted from Nicomachea. "...But let's see what we can do about this, first. Nico-kun?"

    << *BONG!* >> << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE, >> chirps the charm as Rashmi plucks it from its string, then expands into its active-mode book form.

    << SOLAR HEAL >>

A golden magical seal spreads out from under Rashmi's feet, and soon a matching circle resolves under Setsuna, shining a warm, bright light up to surround the injured Outer Senshi. It's not a *strong* healing effect, but, the wamrth is soothing, and the pain ebbs quite noticeably. If, perhaps, it was Haruka with the injury, it'd be enough to get back into an ongoing fight. At this moment, however, it's more like being wrapped in a warm, snuggly blanket with a nice cup of tea next to a warm fire; relaxing and invigorating at the same time, giving allowing one to really, really enjoy a good book.

Once the spell starts its work, Rashmi turns back to grab a few pots, and set up a pair of double-boilers on the stove for the leftovers. "So... at the risk of bringing down the mood... What happened, Setsuchan?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown got to work. With Setsuna helping to direct him, it wasn't even that difficult. He was hardly the greatest field medic, but he could get the job done.

And, considering that, he soon had the hand splinted and properly tended. He then glanced up at her. "Most first aid kids are set for others to help the wounded, it's generally not recommended for the wounded to tend to themselves. Doctor," he said in a slight teasing tone.

He would, of course, go about and start helping to gather things. Plates, silverware... Rashmi was doing the healing spell now and he wanted Setsuna to properly make sure there was no other pain or sensation loss. After all... she was more medically qualified than him. Technically.

"You know, I don't believe I've ever eaten as well when stranded on a planet," Chrono said with a teasing tone. "I haven't even had to purify my own water or setup latrines."

Of course, once all the food was distributed, he... Didn't ask.

He let Rashmi ask. Emotional stuff was more her department. He could give a pep talk and help rally the troops. But he wasn't exactly the 'Let's have a heart to hear talk' type of person.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Rashmi lands the heal, Setsuna sighs a bit in relief.

It wasn't a BIG injury...in fact, with only a week or so of normal healing, it would likely have been perfectly fine.

Still...not HAVING to do that is SOO much better.

As the hairline crack knits itself back into place via the application of properly-tuned magical force, Setsuna looks at Chrono and smiles, "Thanks for holding it set, Chrono...but it appears that Rashmi has made those of us who have to work the old, slow way unecessary."

She then stands up and helps him arrange things back in the kit and then says, "If you don't mind, Chrono...could you put this away? It goes just inside the door in the pantry there."

That said, she steps over to the stove, where she'd left a large cast-iron plate that spreads across the front two elements that she had cleaned but not put away from earlier.

She reaches over to the console, taps a few buttons...then shifts the double boiler to work on one of the back burners and retrieves some utensils, "I think you know where the plates are, Rashmi...and drinks are in the fridge, there."

A hand is held over the plate...then she nods.

To someone who's unfamiliar with them, the speed at which an induction cooktop can come to temperature is often rather surprising.

Nodding to herself, Setsuna drops the last four pre-patty balls onto the burner and uses a press she had nearby to smash them down. As she does, she answers Rashmi's question, "Usagi-san and Ami-san came by a while ago. I was INTENDING to touch base with them...ask how they were doing after the portal...and tell them about some important things I found the locations of while we were in there."

Pluto DID end up spending most of the time split off from most everyone else, after all.

She blows out a huffed breath, "We didn't get much into THAT discussion before I mentioned that Hotaru is living here...something I probably SHOULD have told her earlier...but...well..."

She shakes her head...but then checks the burgers, tears open a small envelope and sprinkles the contents within on the four patties, then flips them before going on, "...Hotaru's former identity came up and apparently her interactions with 'Firefly' were VERY different than yours were, Rashmi." The woman reaches up and pinches the bridge of her nose before letting out a sigh, "...and, to be fair to her, I failed to notice that she's apparently still pretty deep in trauma response and...RAW."

Cheese is placed on the patties and the tray is placed over the surface before she grabs the buns and adds burger sauce, "...she yelled, I yelled...she stormed out. I didn't take it well...cleaned up more or less on autopilot, then went and had a lie down."

Tray off, one patty on the other, then over to the waiting buns and heat off.

Burger placed in front of each of the two visitors, "Michiru found me curled up in bed and gave me a talk...then I suppose she called you right after. She DID say she'd 'summoned reinforcements'."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As Setsuna takes over the kitchen, Rashmi nods and fetches the plates and drinks; melon Ramune for herself cold buckwheat tea for Chrono.

She is, after all, very aware that her boyfriend does not have her sweet tooth, and soba-cha goes great with burgers anyway.

"...It's *really hard* to notice how other people are doing when you're scraped that thin," she says after a moment, at Setsuna's failure to notice Usagi's mental state. "I mean... I'm pretty sure it wasn't *on purpose* that you didn't tell her? Stuff has been *stupidly* wild the last few weeks, and then Beryl on top of everything..."

Falling silent for a moment, she shakes her head, drawing in a breath. "Well, I'm glad Michiru-chan did. I'm glad we can *help,* and I think we *can.* But... I also think we're not gonna be able to help *quick,* except by making sure that Usa-chan isn't reacting like a hurt person about it, again. So... that's gonna take a bit of time."

When the burgers are set down, she slips onto a stool and takes a bite. At the *very least,* she's going to make sure that food cooked for her is food eaten, because she was brought up *knowing* what it means to cook for others. And food is *very definitely* her love language. "...Oh wow yeah Chrono this is *so* not ration packs, try yours."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown couldn't help but smile a they were all getting to work. It was... well...

People like them, at least Setsuna and he, tended to operate best when there was work to be done. But, mor importantly, he smiled at Rashmi. Her healing spell was getting stronger. SHE was getting stronger. "Very good," he said to her.

"Yeah... I was tempted to ask more about the small child you three apparently adopted.... but I felt, as an Enforcer, this was likely a more 'need to know' situation. I'm guessing that Usagi-chan disagreed?" he asked.

"But judging by what I've heard from you lot, no. This is not the situation where one should experience sudden realizations. You likely all are suffering through varying levels of trauma from the ordeal, and need time to process what you've seen. The battlefield alone was quite gruesome, not to mention everything else you went through."

He then took a seat, taking a bite out of the burger, his eyes going wide. Damn. That WAS a good burger. Still, aside from supporting Rashmi, he wasn't offering much. He was thinking, however. He knew this Usagi was... important to them. To all of them. So he glanced over. "Setsuna-chan? What IS Usagi's role, in comparison to the rest of you in this household? I know she's your... princess? But what all does that entail?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna absently begins cleaning up her cook area, wiping down the griddle surface and shifting it to rest across the two left side plates so she can shift the boiler arrangement to the right front element.

A glance is taken into the pot, a brief bit of stirring is done, and she then steps over to the fuzzy logic rice maker that sits on the corner of the counter space.

The wonderful thing about one of them?

Rice ANYTIME.

Thus, she scoops a little rice into a bowl, ladles a little of the bhapa chingri onto it and moves back over to the island to sit across from the others.

Looking back and forth at them, she sighs, then says...in a vaguely Scottish accent that should ping where the quote is from for Rashmi, at least, "...okay, kids...THIS is where it gets complicated."

In a more normal voice, she looks over at Rashmi, "If you don't mind asking Nicomachea to put a sound baffle around the room? Especially not something that will alert Luminous Titan. This is layered and important and she's at the heart of a lot of it."

At Chrono's question she says "...okay. Context time. Some of it I think I've told you and some I haven't. Rashmi saw probably a lot of it but I'm not sure how much she was able to properly convey."

A glance is given to the redhead, "...no putting you down...but there was a LOT, the whole thing was a terrible mess, and I imagne you may not have fully processed it all yourself yet."

She takes a deep breath, then blows it out, "Okay...from the top. I hope you'll forgive me if I give the rather condensed version."

She gives a bit of a serious look, then says, "First...the Earth cooled. Then the dinosaurs came. But they got too big and fat, so they all died and turned to oil."

Then she can't help but smile a bit as she breaks off from her attempt to lighten the mood a little before diving back in, "...wait. No. Too far back."

A bite of her food is taken...and by the appreciative noises she makes, she can tell this was Terios food, not Korma food. As noted, there's a noticable difference.

Then she goes on, mostly serious once more, "Anyway...fourteen thousand years ago, there was an Empire that spanned the length and breadth of the system. Every planet had colonies or habitats on or around it and was part of the Kingdom. Earth itself was populated, but they weren't part of us for several reasons, none of which are important now...but there was a noticable level difference of technical and magical expertise VASTLY in our favor. Our Queen..." The woman, the two will likely recall, who laid the Taboos on a VERY young Setsuna and left her to Guard a Gate...alone. "...she had been our ruler for as long as anyone really rememebered...and she was VASTLY powerful. Usagi...Usagi was her daughter. Her daughter who fell in love with the crown prince of the Earth Kingdom."

Another bite is taken, and a sharp eye will note she's using the enjoyment from the good food to offset the bitterness that tends to creep in as she recounts the tale, "...if that had been it, things would have worked out rather well. Two kingdoms brought together by what was actually True Love, all's well that ends well."

She then scowls, "...but, it was not To Be. Because the Earth Kingdom's court had Beryl in it. A self-rightous entitled bitch of a sorceress who felt that the Prince should be HERS. She made some kind of pact with some extraplanar...thing...basically drove the population of the Earth mad...then sicced them on every planet and habitat at once as cover to take out the Queen and her court on the moon."

A hand is waved towards the back of the house, "...Uranus and Neptune were busy putting out fires all over the Outer system...and by Royal Decree they got to the Inner system so rarely that by the time of the final battle, I think most of the population of the Inner system regarded us as myths and legends."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
At the question of a sound baffle, Rashmi looks... faintly confused for a moment, then has a quick mental conference with Nicomachea. Her expression goes through some faintly amusing shifts, as Rashmi's poker face is spotty at the best of times, and finally wraps back around to satisfied. With a nod, she clears her throat. "Nicomachea: Solar Shield -- Hush Shift."

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- HUSH SHIFT >>

Suddenly the kitchen is enveloped in a bubble of transparent golden light... that then seems to shatter, into miniscule, staticky specks, producing a sound very akin to rustling leaves. "...It's a lot quieter on this side," she confesses. "So if any of the others come in, they'll definitely know something's up, but..."

Settling in for dinner and a story, Rashmi smiles indulgently at the attempts at light-hearted references, nodding along with the tale so far. "Actually," she pipes up, "I think her obsession with the Prince came later. At first... well, it was jealously and fear. I... talked to Beryl. ...Well. A Beryl before she really got going, but... yeah." Flushing a bit, she nods for Setsuna to continue. "I'll explain when you're done, sorry."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown nodded along, slowly eating his burger. "So a lot like TSAB space," he offered. Well, not entirely. But system spanning empires, he was familiar. And weird time things. The time/space in his title was not just for show, after all.

He did, however, cock an eye at some parts of it. Namely, the whole... well... true love bringing empires together. That rarely worked well. The concept was... fine. It was just... very hard to impliment.

"And these royal decrees, I imagine they are more akin to a geas than a commander's orders, correct?" Chrono asked. After all, he had seen the effect it had on Setsuna.

He also made note that Rashmi's magic was, again, improving. Amazing how he managed to fall for her a little bit more each day...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods to Rashmi, "...ah. That makes sense, then. Bear in mind, this is all what I could pick up and observe from current events feeds and the like from the time as well as things I was able to watch from the Gates themselves."

She pauses, "...and I'm summarizing a lot...but frankly the various diplomatic dances leading up weren't all that important."

She finishes her snack before responding to Chrono's question, "...to the best of my knowledge, 'no'...there wasn't a geas in their orders...probably more a very strong component of not wanting to disappoint the Queen along with having a LOT of space to cover and only two of them to do it with." She shrugs, then returns to the main narrative, "In any event, things went...poorly for us. The four Generals of the Princes' court were no pushovers...and they knew and were in some cases on very close terms with their counterparts in the Princess' court. Beryl got to them all and turned them...and they were part of the final battle. I'm not exactly sure what order all of the Inner senshi fell in...but all of them died. Most while taking down their counterpart. During it all, the Prince got killed, the Princess took her own life in grief...Venus managed to off that bint Beryl by running an Artefact Sword through her and nailed her to the ground before succumbing to her own wounds...and the Queen..."

She trails off, "...by this point, the demon Beryl had summoned was bloated off all the chaos and power it had consumed...so the Queen used the Silver Crystal that was her Artefact to cast a spell sealing it away forever. At the same time I can only surmise she keyed it to react to the Silence Wave that would be coming to gather the souls of all the fallen and catapult them to the future to be reborn together."

Here, Setsuna sits back in her chair a little and folds her arms, "...and here is where it gets complicated and ends up tying to CURRENT events."

A hand is waved, "...see, there was one final Senshi. Sailor Saturn."

The older woman blows out a huffed breath, "...Saturn...Saturn had a similar burden to mine. She was the wielder of the Silence Glaive...the most singularly destructive Artefact I have ever known. She was the Guardian of Death...but also of Rebirth...something which most people forgot...and thus she made people uneasy. So much so that she was kept in eternal slumber, only to be awoken at need."

Setsuna rubs her face, "...in any event, the Queen's death set off the final failsafe. The system was descending into madness, demon crazed and possessed people were killing everything around them...and we were forced to awaken Saturn."

After a moment, Setsuna leans forward and hangs her head, "...in the portal...we got to see her. She was just...defeated. Kept sealed away. No laughter. No love. No LIFE. I met that girl for less than five minutes and I want to say without question that I NEVER want to meet a girl that broken, exhausted, and despairing as that ever again."

Setsuna stands up, grabs the used dishes and puts them in the washer, then steps over to the fridge, gets herself a ramune and pops the glass ball to take a pull before going on, "...Saturn then swung her Glaive and unleased the Silence to wash the system clean. All souls within to be reborn...and the queen's spell to scoop up the Princess, the Prince, and their Courts to be reborn together."

She takes a sip, then gestures with the bottle's neck, "...I suspect she also tied the whole thing to Destiny as well to make extra sure it happened."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Usa-chan said that the Queen's spell is *responsible* for the Veil," Rashmi says quietly, when Setsuna falls silent. "I don't know the details, but... yeah. That too."

Now things begin to fall into place, for Rashmi. The urgency with which Pluto told Rashmi to be utterly, absolutely careful around Firefly. The absolute devotion with which she treats the poor young girl.

Because before, Rashmi thought she only saw in Hotaru a kindred spirit, a lonely girl who deserved to know proper love.

Now...

"...So that's why you agreed to hide Hotaru-chan?" Rashmi asks, pursing her lips. "Because she deserved to be more than a system-scale nuclear bomb?"

...A *lot* of things make sense, now. Including Usagi's anger, if she reacted to this news as a hurt and traumatized teenager who just watched her own suicide.

...

Sliding her plate to one side, she lets her head fall down onto the counter with a quiet *thump*

"Oh boy..."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was listening intently... and may, or may not, have choked on his burger for a second, having to get a napkin to cover his mouth! Gosh darn it.

"Ahhhh. A lost logia. I'll add it to the list," Chrono said. "So, if I understand this correctly... your empire had a system-wide weapon of mass destruction, that had the failsafe of her, the failsafe of her only being awoken if your group awoke her? And..."

He trailed off for a moment. "No, admittedly. That sounds terrible. Locking someone away for a crime they never committed, just because they are capable of such things, isn't right. I do not blame you for trying to give that girl something other than such an undeserved fate."

"... Still, I can understand why Usagi would be frustrated if you had her hiding here. Why didn't you tell her?" He didn't sound accusatory. More gathering information. And hey, at least he wasn't trying to confiscate the girl. Though... "Can she access that weapon as she is? Or would she need to be 'awoken' by you again first?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Rashmi's revelation about the Veil causes Setsuna to blink a few times in surprise, then sigh and shake her head, "...well, I can say I did *NOT* know that...but at the same time it wouldn't surprise me. She put her entire life force into that working and focused it through an immensely powerful artefact. Given how skilled and powerful she was, it would have been simple enough for her to have included things like that in her working."

She shakes her head, "...no. I agreed to take in Hotaru because she needed the help." Another big sigh, "...that girl is more machine than meat, she grew up around those psychopaths at Obsidian and accepts as 'normal' things that would give most people nightmares and apparently has SOMETHING inside her that Luminous Titan is at least partially designed to keep sealed. At the time, I didn't know she was Saturn. THAT, I figured out not long after...but I fell in love with that girl long before."

She snorts and smiles, "...I think it was when we had that magical accident that swapped our sizes for a few weeks and we were trying to sneak out of the school and she was quietly humming her own spy music."

She shakes her head, then goes on, "...but after I realized she was Saturn...well...yeah. That just reinforced my desire to give her the life she deserves."

Setsuna sits down as Rashmi headdesks, and she props her chin on her palm with a sigh, absently rolling the marble around in it's little chamber of her bottle with her other hand, "...I MEANT to tell her. But..."

She trails off for a good few seconds, then shakes her head and waves her bottle in Rashmi's direction, "...well, she was so obviously afraid of Sailor Moon...so I figured I'd give it a few days...and then you showed up that day, Rashmi...and you and her got along so well...so I couldn't imagine that Usagi-san, a girl whose capacity to love and forgive still boggles my mind at times...I couldn't imagine she'd react any different...so..."

She scowls at the memory of her past decisions, "...so on some level I just deprioritized it...figuring that socialising Hotaru a little more first would be for the best...and then one thing and another happened..."

A sigh is heaved, "...Hindsight."

Finally, Setsuna taps her lips, "...there was something Usagi-san said about Firefly stabbing her while having a freakout about dying or something...which in the place that Hotaru was at the time, I can imagine..." She trails off briefly, then continues, "...and no, she's not awakened yet. GENERALLY it takes Uranus, Neptune, and myself using our Talismans to awaken Saturn. I don't THINK she can awaken herself...but..."

She pauses as she remembers something, "...there was that incident where Uranus, Moon, Neptune, and myself were fighting some psychotic set of twins...Firefly was there and they apparently set off whatever thing Obsidian put in her and it vaporized them. I remember Sailor Moon got blamed for it by some Obsidain person and she was quite upset over that...I think this is all wrapped up in there somehow...but when she was here, she seemed most upset at us not telling her."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
*tump*

*tump*

*tump*

"Hindsight," the redhead echoes, voice muffled against the counter. "...So I'm not gonna say with any certainty, but... I *think* I get her reaction. It's... kind of a layer cake of horrible, all under the surface. ...And now it's topped by *she remembers* her past, her past *self.* And she blames herself for *everybody dying.*"

With a long, gusty sigh, she pushes her head off the table. "So there's a part of her, I think... that thinks everyone died because she was too soft and too stupid. And that's the thinking that reacted to 'Oh right, that one Obsidian girl who disintegrated people and stabbed you, she's sleeping down the hall and Obsidian has no idea where she is.'"

Picking up the last of her burger, she quickly finishes it off, looking up at Setsuna. "You didn't do anything wrong, Setsuchan, and it's not your fault at all. I think you just tripped and fell on a landmine."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. "Indeed. I don't know if you were wrong in your analysis, either. It sounds like a complex situation. Even if she isn't this... doomsday device. If she has fought Sailor Moon in the past? I imagine it will result in many complex emotions."

A hand moved up to his chin as he seemed, for the moment, lost in though. Namely, he wondered how Sailor Moon was taking it. He'd need to talk with her, later. Once he'd finished chatting with Setsuna.

"So, I suppose my next question is this. What right does Usagi have to know? She is upset by you not telling her sooner. Why do you need to tell her at all?"

He could think of a thousand reasons why. But he wanted to know why SETSUNA felt she had to tell her.

... But then he paused. "Wait. She hummed it? Fascinating. I would have figured you'd be the one humming spy music. Wait. Was this from when you were... smaller?" Ahhhh. He remembered that time well...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna blinks, then with a twist of her wrist summons her phone from stuffspace. She looks at an incoming text, then scowls before heaving a sigh, "...oh, yeah. That girl's still EXTRA raw."

She drops her phone, which immediately disappears before it travels a centimeter, "...and it looks like they ARE looking for her. They must be looking in EXACTLY the wrong direction at the moment."

She shrugs, "...in any event, she used to have physical episodes almost daily. She'd come into the infirmary to recover all the time. Since she's been here? Nada."

She then scowls at Chrono at his comment on him expecting SETSUNA to do the musical accompaniment and she opens her mouth to say something in response...then pauses, sighs, then shakes her head, "...fair."

A cough, then she goes on, "...and yes, this was when I was small." She then smirks, "...still taller than YOU, Space Boy." At which point she sticks her tongue out at him.

And then there's Chrono's PERTINENT question. The IMPORTANT one.

Rashmi probably had put it together by now, but Chrono wouldn't have seen to get the context, "...and the reason I should have told her is because Usagi *IS* the Princess. The reincarnated Serenity the Second, daughter of the Queen of the Silver Millennium and rightful ruler thereof. Inheritor of the Silver Millenium Crystal."

She shrugs, "...Usagi-san is my sovereign. My Princess. My Queen. She's the one who loosened the Geas her mother Serenity laid on me when she gave my my Duty."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Yeah," Rashmi sighs, nodding as Setsuna confirms the scope of the 'in trouble.' "That about matches... Chrono, Usa-chan is to Setsuna as the head of the TSAB is to you. Even if everything you did was by the book, but your higher-ups would still be furious that they didn't get told about the potential world-ending Lost Logia you're hiding out. Sooooo..." Rashmi spreads her hands. "Oops."

Settling back on her stool, Rashmi thinks very, very carefully. "But it's not an oops you can't make up for... Just... There's some scarring over that needs done, maybe. If she was mad enough to get you this upset, Setsuchan, she's probably not doing great herself."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just took a bite of his burger while S2U then pulled up a holographic image of some of the time while Setsuna was small...

And Chrono was standing by her...

And yes, he was taller. It was only a very, very tiny portion of their lives. But no, he would *never* forget it.

Hearing what it was, welllll... He then sighed. "Well, actually... as an Enforcer, I am expected to operate alone. I answer to the council of the TSAB, of course. But I am expected to use my own judgment in many situations, which can at time mean withholding information from them. Even if I was in direct, regular contact with one of them, it would not be expected for me to share all information unless I deem it appropriate."

"However, that's at the head of the chain. If I withheld such information from my direct commanding officer, if I had one, that would be a different story. So I guess my question falls where do you and the others fall in the command structure? Are you expected to operate independently of her and use your own judgment in most situations, or are you expected to report all such things to her? After all, there is a large difference in distribution of rules between a ruler and a commander."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna just looks at the picture and says, "Lies. Lies and slander."

She turns to Rashmi...and here her epression falls once more to a more sorrowful one, "...I *KNOW*."

And it's obvious that the knowledge Usagi is hurting is causing her at least some actual distress, "...and I REALLY want to just give her a hug and help her through this..."

And here she throws her hands up in the air in exasperation, "...but with THIS whole thing, me getting anywhere NEAR her is just going to PROLONG the problem!"

With that, she gets up and paces back and forth a few times before heaving a sigh and flopping back to lean against the counter...at which point she looks over at Chrono and opens her mouth...then closes it again before shaking her head, "...and that's at least another part of the problem. Back in the Silver Millenium? We Outer Senshi were tasked with dealing with External threats. The Inners were for taking care of Internal ones. They were the Princess' guards and troubleshooters all in one...but like I said...we outers were so busy with the tasks we had been given that by the end there...we were regarded as myths and legends...so back then, our two groups didn't have a lot of interaction. We were answerable to the Queen, but we were fairly independant."

She rubs her face, "...however, when we all started awakening...I told Usagi-san I wanted to bridge the divide between the two groups."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi winces, getting up off her stool to hug Setsuna. "And you still can," she says quietly. "Nobody's perfect, and mistakes are *gonna* happen. Especially when you literally spent millennia being used to operating on your own. But we *can* come back from this, Setsuchan. And if you still wanna bridge the divide, then *I* will happily be the bridge for *you two* until you don't need one, okay?"

Looking up at Setsuna, she puts on her best, most encouraging smile. "This is fixable. We can fix this. And I wanna help."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod, glancing to Rashmi. "I... think Rashmi has the right idea. The fact of the matter is? You very well may have messed up. And I don't think it was unreasonable. But I don't believe Usagi's anger towards it is unreasonable either. And right now? I doubt she's going to want to listen to much in the way of apologies or bridging the gap, as it were."

He got to his feet and walked to the sink, putting it in with the rest of the dirty dishes. "Right now? She is raw. Anything we say to her will likely be regarded in the worst possible light. She likely doesn't *want* to be talked out of her anger. So my suggestion, in this case? Is delay for a little bit. Setsuna, tell her the truth. What you want, in terms of your role. And admit... you'll make mistakes and screw up. These things happen. Rashmi can help you in that, as well. I know very few people who are as capable as her when it comes to social aspects."

Then he turned to face the two of them. "I, unfortunately, am not quite as good at that. However, I may still be able to assist. Sailor Moon likely needs a chance to blow off some steam. And, in that regard? I should be more than capable of assisting her. Without tearing at the wound, as it were. If you'd like that, of course. I understand if you'd rather I not interfere." 'Let off some steam'. Oh, they likely BOTH knew what that meant. They'd trained with him...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna seems to relax at the offers of help, "Thanks, both of you. I had hoped, but I didn't want to assume."

Then she snaps her fingers as a thought occurs to her, "Yeah, I'll stay distant for the moment and give things time to heal...and I'll appreciate you being a go-between Rashmi. Which reminds me. During my search for information, I found that at the end, the Mercury Computer was hooked up to the Moon's mainframe and was running something that was either creating or trying to iterate a barrier against the energies Beryl was using. It's possible that stuff is still there, and the display looked a lot like the kind of spell math you guys use."

She shakes her head, "That's not the more important bit, however. If you don't mind asking Nicomachea, I'm going to need to run a major series of stellar drift calculations and model the results in three dimensions. I could buy a commercial rig to do it, but I didn't want Nicomachea to feel like I was slighting him if he'd like to contribute a bit more directly."

She then gives Chrono a long look before shrugging, "...by all means...spar with her. Who knows? Maybe the chance to vent will help her. Heck, if you think it'll help I'll go try to figure out how to throw a nonlethal version of Dead Scream."

Oddly enough, this might be the first time she's named her attack in a setting where someone can actually hear what it's called.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...A what of what?" Rashmi says, looking up at the nurse, eyes wide. "...So wow... you weren't kidding at the hospital. ...Huh. Um. I mean that's never a bad idea in general anyway, so... If you want help with that, Setsuchan, I'd be delighted."

A quick glance down at Nicomachea, answered by a cheery *BONG!* and Rashmi nods. "Nico-kun could probably knock that out over a weekend," she says, "given the timing involved. And... I mean yeah, if the computers are still there, and they still have the numbers, *absolutely* I would be happy to plug those in. Speaking of... Chrono, I want you to talk to one of my roommates. She does something that's *like* a Barrier, but it also pulls the battlefield out of the *flow* of time... And I had some dumb ideas about what I don't know that won't work. I only mention it because you know the math better... maybe between the three of us, we can figure out something *really big?*"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown resisted the urge to ask about those artifacts. Since coming to this rock, he'd learned about more magical artifacts of BS than he'd ever imagined could exist. He wasn't sure he was prepared to learn of another one. Or a flurry of them. He loved this world but dang it was... an experience many days. So many days. An exhausting one.

He did, however, cock an eye at the name of that attack. "Uh... huh... Maybe work on that regardless. But no, I don't think you sparring with her right now would help."

If anything, he suspected her sparring with Usagi would only aggrivate the situation.

Annnnd then he just turned to look at Rashmi. "Pulls it out of the... flow of time. Does she then use it to cook?" Because... he'd seen that. And he had that look in his eyes again. Of 'Yup, this world, I swear...'

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The taller woman rolls her eyes, "I have to whisper the command phrase of it for a REASON."

Setsuna then blinks at Rashmi, honestly having forgotten what she's referencing, "Who in the what at the hospital when?"

She then shakes her head, "The moon's mainframe will be gone. It was in a tower and if it was still there, it'd be visible from Earth with the telescopes we have now. But the MERCURY COMPUTER was plugged into it. *IT* might have the data."

She shrugs, "You'll have to ask Ami-san about it, tho."

She then frowns, "...might want to wait a bit until she's feeling better too...she got a bit huffy when I mentioned you and her having a look at it...but I'm wondering if she realized that's what I meant."

Then when Rashmi mentions a barrier that takes things out of the flow of time, she coughs...and the Garnet Rod is suddenly in her hand...which she lightly taps on the floor to create a rather distinctive chime noise.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...When you were talking about almost killing Sunbreaker-san I mean," Rashmi says with a shrug. "I didn't know that was your *standard,* and I mean *I'm* not planning on fighting you anytime soon, so..."

Glancing at Chrono, then the Garnet Rod, Rashmi spreads her hands. "Look I don't break the rules," she protests, "I leave that to my roommates! But I figure it'd be harder to fight in Daifuku-chan's kitchen, than it would in Wako-chan's *galactic space arena,* so guess which one I'm considering part of a really bad idea!"

With that, Rashmi nods to Setsuna. "I'll remember that... And yeah, when things have calmed down a little bit, I'll ask her. And get her a couple memory cards, so she doesn't have to worry about hacking." The redhead shrugs. "I mean I don't agree, but, I *get* it. Especially after one of those Rainbow Crystals managed to possess me *using* Nicomachea's secure storage."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown glanced over towards Setsuna. "I mean, I think her not wanting other people to access her computer makes sense. I wouldn't want anyone to access the information on S2U, either." They'd be able to learn all his deepest, darkest, most depraved secrets...

Like the days he cut short on PT. Or days he spent hours working on a sound effect for a spell, or the days he... well, in summation? Only he could access his computer.

"And I'm aware of what you do, Setsuna. It's still dangerous to be doing it so... willy nilly." He then gave Rashmi a little side eye. "Like the drool of the three tongued dragon's of ETS-762," he muttered. "But no, go ahead. I'll see what I can do with it. But creating a barrier that goes outside time would be difficult, and dangerous. When we setup our barriers, we effectively create a small pocket dimension to fight in, removing all civilians from it. We use space. Creating a time barrier would be, theoretically, possible but have its own risks."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna ahs at Rashmi, "That. Yeah. I mean, the attack literally throws Death at someone."

She pauses, "...not just a lot of deadly energy. The IDEA of Death. Death as a Concept. Stuffed into a ball and shot at the target."

Another pause, "...there are things from Outside that aren't really familiar with the Concept of Death, so smacking them with it tends to work well."

She then looks at Rashmi, "Well, if you guys need help on the Temporal aspects, let me know. Time IS my main domain, anyhow."

The Garnet Rod is then let go to disappear back to...wherever.

Then she stands up and walks around to hug Rashmi...then pull Chrono over into the hug as well, "...thanks, you two for coming over. I...I needed it."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"The beacons were lit," Rashmi paraphrases with a smile, wrapping arms around Pluto and Chrono. "Gondor called for aid, of *course* we came."

Setsuna gets an extra large squeeze. "We care about you too much not to want to help, Setsuchan... Don't forget that, all right? Next time remember that Michiru doesn't have to be the one to send up the flare?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown wasn't even going to touch that 'concept of death' with a ten foot pool. Nope. Not his planet, not even getting into the logistics of THAT whale.

However, he didn't resist the hug. "We all need help now and again, Setsuna. So don't ever be afraid to call us. You're family... and family is there for each other."

... However, after a moment he gave a curious look to Rashmi. "Wait... who's Gondor? You aren't hiding a fifth person here, are you?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Chrono *you saw the movie right next to me,*" Rashmi sighs.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna bites down on her bottom lip to stifle a giggle at Chrono's question and Rashmi's response, then manages to go on, "...sorry about that...I kind of got a bit stuck in my own head. Fortunately, I live with a Seer, so she came and kicked me out of it."

Then she blinks and gives Rashmi a LOOK, "Wait...what was that about you getting possessed?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Valentine's Day," Rashmi sighs. "I was looking for something cute for Chrono, and there was a Rainbow Crystal, and I thought if I sealed it I could get it to the right people... Except the stupid thing had *seriously* generous ideas about what 'holding' means, and used my own magic to possess me. It was only for a little bit, and it's safe now, but..." Rashmi simply shrugs.

"And if it helps... I know what you mean about getting stuck inside your own head."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown blinked a few times. Then... "OH! That movie! I thought it was... I didn't realize it was another reference. Right. The torch alert system, on the third day." The thing he imitated that one time. Seriously.

"It was... difficult. Those crystals were, at least. There's always a lot going on in this world, Setsuna. It can be difficult, at times, to keep up," he said with a small, gentle smile. He pulled away from the hug before looking her up and down. "Well then. As you two are the experts... is this a 'Let Setsuna sleep' situation or a 'Let's go watch something that has references Chrono won't understand at first until we pass out' situation?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna stands up and stretches a little, "I'm good for either or or both, frankly. Up to you two kooky kids."

She then steps over to put away the unused Terios food.

Needs to be saved for later.