1259/Eclipse Investigation: B&S

Eclipse Investigation: B&S
Date of Scene:	10 March 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Bow and Sayaka make a move on the Eclipse Zones, with the former investigating while the latter tries to talk some sense into Sunbreaker... Asking the most important question. Is this really what Sunbreaker wants?
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Bow, Sayaka Miki

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
It hadn't been too long since the Eclipse Zone had first gone off and, at almost all times, there were a few youma within the area. That was what made them so difficult. Normal people didn't even notice them. A person could spend all day in one and, while they would be exhausted, they wouldn't pass out.

But they always had guards. And all the time, the pillar in the center was draining energy. Bit. By. Bit. Every few hours a bit of the energy would disappear... Teleported off who knows where. And even if it would take time for the benefits of them to show, the fact people like Beryl were constantly getting small influxes of energy was NOT good.

After recently escaping her kidnapping, Sunbreaker was lounging about the Eclipse Zone, lightly tapping on one of the pillars. The melody was playing, a song of Utau's, barely audible except for those with magical awareness.

Bow has posed:
After finding out that one of the girls that Bow had helped Sayaka saved was actually her ex was a little surprising. Not that it had stopped the pair of them for trying to make the first steps in their own relationship. Having learned of the Eclipse Zone from others, Bow had volunteered to try to get close to the pillar with the tech pad from Etheria and maybe see if the otherworldly tech may give them a different insight into things - especially since he had Crystal Hope to assist him with the readings.

But he is going to have to get in close to get the readings he wants to get. Which means that they are going to need to find a way to hold the attention of the sunackys, the youma, and most importantly, Sunbreaker.

On the edge of the zone, there is a flutter of wings, and flying down to land out of sight of the pillar, Bow disembarks from Swiftwind. Glancing up at the Puella Magi on his back, he grabs the alicorn's face. "You take care of her." A light headbutt.

Swiftwind headbumps back. "You got it, Bow! Come, Sayaka, our friend awaits!" And with that, he's rising off the ground again to head towards where Sunbreaker is.

Once they are away, Bow glances at their retreating forms and takes out the tech pad. And then, to Crystal Hope, he asks, "How close do we need to get, Hope?"

Crystal Hope responds with a chime of frustration. "The Barrier that is over the pillar is going to make a scan difficult from here."

And while he told Sayaka he'd stay safe and back - that does not seem to be the case now. "Then off we go." And with that, he slips from cover to start to try to find his way through the opening as he dips into the dusk zone and works to evade the first set of guards, pad switched with the bow for now.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
With Bow dropped somewhere far away from the tower, Sayaka is left to her own devices, with only Swiftwind to accompany her.

"Call me Sharpsong, Swiftwind, please. Sunbreaker wouldn't have told the others my identity." And she intends to keep things that way.

When the long-maned alicorn gets her close to where her ex-girlfriend is, Sayaka waves to Sunbreaker from the back of Swiftwind. "Hi, Sunbreaker! Still running this project. How long left until your ascension?"

The song is quite unnerving, but it's really just draining her, so as long as she suppresses her own sensations and keeps in mind her Soul Gem's levels, she can hold on.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker glanced up when suddenly...

... An alicorn. Gosh darn it. Her ex. She gave a soft, exhausted sigh. "Sharpsong... you should know better than to be here," she said coldly. "I'm going to give you one chance, leave. Otherwise? I'll *make* you leave," Sunbreaker warned.

"The same goes for you, Swiftwind. Neither of you should be here and you should both know I can't be showing favoritism."

... But attacking her ex RIDING on Swiftwind? Oh, THAT was rough. That was INCREDIBLY rough.

... But she also knew that Sayaka within the zone wasn't a good idea. Puella, of all people, shouldn't be draining themselves.

Sayaka's arrival had managed to get a lot of attention, though. The youma and sunackies were watching the discussion closely, not wanting to risk getting caught unawares if the girl attacked.

This made Bow slipping in rather easy. He'd notice as he went in... There were other civilians in ehre. Usually people passing threough and the like. They seemed fine. The dangerous ones were the youma. People didn't see them as 'monsters', but there were a few... Especially near the two towers he could see. Each one had a youma near it, playing the role of 'security'. But dress up a youma all you like in tuxedos... and it was still a monster in a suit.

Bow has posed:
"Oh! We're using made up names??" Swiftwind asks in utter excitement about the whole idea of stealth and spies and made up names! Someone probably saw a Spy thing while he was with Sunbreaker. "Then Sharpsong, you shall call me... Double-Oh-Hoof!" he offers excitedly, that is until Sunbreaker arrives and is making her <s>threat</s> warning. "We're here to parlay, Sunbreaker!" the majestic alicorn offers.

And then adds, "Don't call me Swiftwind, call me Double-Oh-Hoof!" he reminds. "Or fine. You can call me Swiftwind. But Bow has asked me to keep Sharpsong safe, so I will do what I must to protect her!"

Down on the ground, as Bow enters into the dusk zone, he draws in a breath. As he notices civilians, he's using what cover he can find, ducking around corners. An arrow is held at the ready, nocked and ready to be pulled back to fire, just in case.

In his ear, Crystal Hope chimes softly. "We're almost in range, Bow. Just a bit closer."

Drawing in a breath, Bow nods his head, but peers around a corner, seeing the first of the two tuxedo'd youma. "I seem to have come underdressed for this affair."

Drawing back an arrow, he aims, and targets a small piece of metal away from him. Holding his breath, when he starts to release, the arrow flies, striking the target with a soft *CLANG*, in an attempt to draw the youma's attention to it and pull him off his guard so that Bow can get around him and into a better position at the edge of the courtyard.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka sighs at Swiftwind's whole speech. Guess this is a lesson she had to learn, that secrecy from him is pretty much impossible. How does Adora manages? "Listen, if you stick to Sharpsong, I will get you a bucket of apples later." He will have to burn them off anyway.

But she is here for Hinoiri. "We have an agreement, Sunbreaker. We are friends, but that doesn't mean I can let people get their energy drained." Of course, she isn't attacking now, but if any of them starts leaving she will have to do at least something.

And actually... There is something else she needs to do here anyway, so while Bow is doing his thing, she has an excuse to be doing hers. "Sunbreaker, how long left until your ascension?" she repeats herself. This is important. For Hinoiri herself too.

"Will you really be fine once you have all that power, with nobody at your side to call a friend?" Hinoiri has to be stopped from ascending, otherwise her destiny will be no better than a Witch's. And Sayaka wants to avoid that at all cost.

"You became my girlfriend because you wanted to learn about caring and affection. It was probably something Sora asked from you", she tries guessing. Sora shaped all of her motivation. And now that she did just that... Well Sayaka has realised this after reflecting for a while on how relieved Hinoiri was to stay her friend.

"The problem is, it worked. You know how to care, you can hold affections. I doubt you can bear the pain of being alone, Sunbreaker. Please, reconsider." Hinoiri, you have to listen. For your own good.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker let out a low groan when she heard Swiftwind. Dang it. This wasn't going to be easy at--

... Double-oh-hoof. Well, it just got a LITTLE easier.

She held out her right hand and small orbs of fire appeared, they--

And then her cheeks went scarlet and she just leaped up into the air, rocketing off after them like a rocket! The orbs circling her! She then sent them flying at the pair, erupting into smaller explosions. Not very destructive, but certainly flashy.

"Don't yell stuff like that, Sharpsong," Sunbreaker snapped. "Are you TRYING to get yourself hurt? You're lucky there's just youma here right now, imagine if something that mattered heard you say that? And I don't know, a month, maybe two? It's not going to be that hard going forward! And I'll be fine! I've got everything I need, I... I don't need friends. I'll make new ones when I get home... And if you really want to talk about personal matters..."

"Who's that new boy with the bow and arrow I saw you kissing the other day, hmmm?" she asked, a playful smirk on her lips now. While the fire would singe, it was definitely more a 'drive them away' style than 'actually knock them out of the sky'.

Bow's distraction, however...

Was far more effective than he might have thought. BOTH of the youma went to investigate this time... Trying to find the source of the clank... though both were still looking up at the fire and explosions above.

Bow has posed:
Swiftwind, for all his bluster, all his words, is sa heroic alicorn. As soon as Sunbreaker is on the attack, the mount is pulling back, gracefully flashing his wings and twisting in the sky to avoid the bursts of fire in an intricate dance with Sunbreaker. "Fear not, Sharpsong!" he calls to his rider, "I will keep you safe from flame's harm! Continue your good work!" comes the words of encouragement!

However, the alicorn is a rather large target, and it seems that he may not be able to dodge everything that Sunbreaker is throwing at the pair.

Bow is surprised when both youma are drawn away. Alright, that is unexpected... but he's not going to look an advantage in the mouth. And while he knows that going deeper into the Eclipse Zone is probably a Bad Idea(tm), they need this data.

So off he goes, looking for that sweet spot where Crystal Hope finally goes...

"Here, Bow. This is where we need to be!" the crystalline figure points out. With that warning issued, Bow takes to cover again, dropping to his rump. The bow is put back into place, tech pad out.

"Alright, Cee-Aych." Bow starts to say, "Let's get you booted up and start these scans." he comments, pressing the screen, opening it to bring up the holographic scan and turning the pad, scanner and antenna towards it to start gathering data.

"Please." Crystal Hope implores. "Call me Crystal Hope."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"The friends you mill make there? Which friends will you be able to make once you will be responsible for your world in Sora's place? Will you have the time? Or will you be sure that they will be true friends, not just after your status?" With what little she knows of such matters, Sayaka doubts it. But it's important Hinoiri needs to consider it.

When Sunbreaker hurls her flames at her, Sayaka doesn't make sign to move. Instead, she says. "Please help, Tramonto". And with that the entity that is a Witch's familiar version of Sunbreaker appears, sending her flames right in opposition to those Hinoiri has sent out.

"I like to think that the fact a version of yourself, of both of you, are still with me now, is because we are both important to each other. Are you still sure you can just leave that behind?" Sayaka asks.

Though, she has to answer Hinoiri's own question. "Oh, I opened your letter", she begins with. "That's a really nice gift, Sunbreaker, and I have to thank you a lot for being my friend. As for the boy, he is my boyfriend. He is a nice and sweet person."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Bow finds he's able to connect to the device... albeit slowly. But, in a strange twist of fate?

It might remind him of ENTRAPTA'S work. Much like how her work had tapped into the runestones, this device seemed to be harnessing a similiar energy. Different still, mind, but not altogether... different.

If anything, his datapad was, ironically, probably one of the few things in the world that COULD properly interface with it.

Unfortunately, it had *security*. That and while it could interface with it, the magic itself was still strange and alien, even to Crystal Hope. But even its probing was giving her information...

Namely, there there were two more towers, hidden away from sight. All four of them were connected to the singular one in the center of the field, on the zone.

Meanwhile, Sunbreaker was slightly stunned upon seeing a WITCH'S familiar come blaring out of Sayaka... Even moreso that it was the one from when Sayaka had been... when she'd witched. It did buy her more time, where the fire wasn't flashing at her.

Her mouth falling open, she stared for a few seconds, unsure of how to proceed, before shaking her head. "Huh? No! I'm not... I have OTHER friends, you know!" Sunbreaker objected, her face burning. "And I've made some. I've made... I've made one friend here, who intends to come with me," Sunbreaker said, a little hint of red in her cheeks. "Even if I don't make friends over there, I won't be alone! I could establish trade routes and other things, too! Me going there doesn't have to be forever alone!"

Now that Tramonto was out, however, Sunbreaker was able to release more of her power. Sending bursts of raging flame at Sayaka, though most of it was being dampened heavily by the familiar.

"I'm happy you like it! I hope I'll be able to see the dress you pick out! I'd offer some advice but, frankly? I still don't fully get human fashion! You always look good in blue, though!" She formed a spear of fire and sent it flying at the two, though it erupted before striking... Into five flaming arrows which tried to flow out and around, to go at Swiftwind and Sharpsong from behind.

Bow has posed:
"I have a connection, Bow." Crystal Hope reports. "Processing now... huh." she offers quietly.

"Huh?" Bow asks, as he pulls up the data and expands it. "By Brightmoon. They're jury-rigging it. Or something similar." he murmurs, but for the moment, the thought that yet another Etherian could possibly be here to the long list of Etherians that are now on Earth is placed in a different list for later.

"Bow, I cannot crack this encryption. I will give you what I can."

"It's fine, Crystal. Download everything you can." Even from his seated position, he's entering data in a side port, the pair of them working in concert for the moment. A crude map is made, trying to make a mark for where the other towers were, where they were linked up, and the information on the primary tower."

Stifling a yawn, Bow shakes his head. "Need to stay at it. We're going to need someone that can crack passwords. That's not my purvew..." he murmurs to himself.

"It is alien, if familiar to me as well. I would not call this First Ones technology, but it is close." Crystal Hope offers in her analysis.

"Yeah. Do your best. I think we may not get much, but what we have is important. I'll give you a couple of more moments before I fire the flare for pickup."

"Hold on, Sharpsong, she's trying to flank us, and while your skills are impressive, I don't wish to have my hind-quarters roasted or skewered!" With that, Swiftwind's launching higher into the air, trying to shake off the arrows that are being fired as he dives into a twirling tight spiral, diving down as he tries to avoid and dodge and just outrun Sunbreaker's mini-Itano circus.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The attacks that Tramonto can't mirror against or that Swiftwind can't dodge? Sayaka tries to do her best to stop them by sending a flurry of swords against them.

"You are really ok with that one friend?" Sayaka says. "Mami had talked to me, you know? About how much I mattered to you when you went to Seattle. So, if you say that really can be fine and won't get hurt, I am happy to be wrong, but I don't think you won't."

"And I actually want to show the dress to you. I want you to know that I am not squandering your gift, that I am treating it like the precious thing a friend got me. Because she always wanted me to get better, even when I wasn't doing as well as things should have gone, as her own effort deserved."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
The scans were going well, all things considered. The distraction overhead was drawing attention....

And then Crystal Hope had managed to complete her scans. While she wasn't able to fully get all the information of the network, she was able to get plenty.

The most important thing was discovering that the four outer towers were directly connected to and feeding into the center one.

But much like the runestones on Etheria... these were tapping in DIRECTLY to the world's leylines. Sapping energy from the world itself. This is likely why the drain in the field was so low in comparison to the energy it was getting. It was drawing it from the world itself. All feeding into that center one. The barriers on the outer towers were weaker than the internal one...

Possibly most importantly, though? His device was practically MADE to tap into these things. If he could find a way to utilize it. However... the fight above was starting to draw less focus and the youma who he'd sent off were starting to give up their search.

Sunbreaker was finding this incredibly hard. While she... didn't really want to hurt either of them, she couldn't NOT put on a show of defending the place. The longer the two were in the field, though, the more they'd be drained.

Her eyes went wide, though, at the comment about Mami. Her cheeks went red and she looked away. "That... that's different. Seattle was... I wasn't even... I was just..." And her cheeks were burning.

... Sayaka cared about her. She really did. And it just made her feel... worse and worse. Because... "Song, you are my friend, but that's outside of work! I just... I don't... GAH! I'll be fine! I swear! I know what I'm doing! Just... stop... putting yourself at risk! What are you even trying to do here?! You can't fight like this, if you want to... I... Okay! you win!"

"Text me. We can meet at the cafeteria, okay? And we can talk it out, no fighting, nothing. But only if you leave right now. Okay? I can't promise I'll agree with what you say, but I'll at least hear you out. Just GO!"

She then turned to Tramonto. She reached out with her right hand and dark red magic surged out and enveloped the familiar. She then spun it and CHUCKED it as hard as she could out of the zone. "Get OUT!"

Bow has posed:
Crystal Hope sees it. She sees it all. And in it... she sees opprotunity.

This is not the place for this, nor the time, however, so she reports to Bow, "I have all I can get at the moment!" the crystalline creature reports. "I believe, as they say, it is time to go?"

Bow finishes gathering the data as well. "We'll pour over it when we get back home. For now..." he glances over, and sees how Swiftwind and Sharpsong are doing, and he finds himself in agreement with Hope.

"Back in you go." Saving the data and tucking the datapad away, Bow grabs the bow and quiver from his back, and considers his options. He could fire a flare and sonic arrow combined - to mark where he is for pick up. That was the plan.

But that will also alert Sayaka to how deep he got in the zone.

And have the unintended and unknown consequence of setting back everything that Sayaka has worked towards tonight.

So. With gear grabbed, he starts to make his way back out, and it's only when he's a safe distance away from the towers and near his original starting point that he pulls out his phone and sends a text to Sayaka.

<PHONE> Text to Sayaka Miki: I got the information. I'll meet you back at school. Hope you're fine.

It'll be a bit of a trek back home - but at least it will keep what they were doing there under wraps a little longer.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Sunbreaker, this is about how your ascension will influence your situation, not whether we are or aren't out of work. I don't think you will end up liking what you are striving to get very much.

But then things start changing. Hinoiri can't bear her speech anymore, and takes it out on Tramonto, chucking her out with the telekynesis, and Sayaka lets it fade by then, especially since Bow needs picking up.

"I will see you then, Sunbreaker", Sayaka answers to her request, with Swiftwind going away on his own to pick up the other Etherian.