1762/WHERE IS SHE

WHERE IS SHE
Date of Scene:	16 July 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower
Synopsis:	Glimmer gets a terrifying text message from Bow... and then goes straight to Takashi to get him to help her. Together, the pair make... a deal. He wants the truth... she wants his help.
Cast of Characters:	Glimmer Brightmoon, Takashi Agera

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Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon checked her phone, giving a light yawn...

Only to sit up and then... Takashi would likely have heard her shriek, and then disappear.

And then she was gone. That certainly wouldn't cause him problems.

Why? Because she teleported to Bow's dorm room and started to ransack the place. By the time she was done, it looked like a Glimmerbomb had gone off in it. And... well... she had no idea where Bow was.

But there was one other person she knew... and so she started heading BACK to Obsidian.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi looked up from his work, a scattered magi-crystal array that he was putting together on his desk. Glimmer was... Being Glimmer, he figured. If he investigated every weird noise the girl with cotton candy sparkle hair made, he'd never get anything done. He sighed and went back to it.

    Beryl was gone. Probably to Paris. Obsidian hadn't even resolved (to its satisfaction, in any case) the Sunbreaker issue, and now an entire Divison Head along with the Group Project that constituted the majority of her department had gone AWOL. Once again the board remained in gridlock about how to respond to this - presumably they wanted to respond without weakening their situation for their own future gambits.

    In the meantime this meant Takashi Agera was an employee without a manager, which suited him just fine. It left him free to focus on the experiments. Frankly things would be better if Beryl got iced and took down a few of the more annoying Mahou Shoujo with her. After what she pulled in the past AND what she pulled with Mamoru recently, he was sure she had enough ire for the sparkles to finish the job - if they COULD. If they couldn't... then his research would be important, to stop her. If they could... his research would be important, to move to the next phase. So despite whatever is going on with Glimmer, he needed to keep working on the array in front of him. Each bit of research a step on the path to his goals...

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon suddenly appeared behind him. And she grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked, hard. And she looked....

Actually, she looked upset. She looked like she might start crying at any point. "Takashi, you have your finger on all the pulses of this place, I know you know whenever someone does something... is doing SOMETHING."

"Who's the current person who threatens everyone? And where? Are? They?" she asked, her hand on his shoulder shaking.

This was definitely NOT a face he'd ever seen her make. She looked... borderline panicked. Even scared. And there were actual tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Who is it that would bring all of the people on Adora's side out to stop them?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Glimmer tugs him with such force that he almost drops what he's working on - a peice of crystal leaves the desk and he has to catch it with a sudden shadow tendril that erupts from his hand. Takashi turns to Glimmer and is clearly about to yell until he actually sees the current state of her.

    Pausing a moment, letting out the air slowly, the tendril places the delicate crystal on the desk before dissapating.

    "Hey, hey. Breathe." he says, his voice much calmer. "I mean, I think the thing everyone's trying to deal with... is our technically-still-my-boss, Queen Beryl." he says.

    "I suspect they're going to try to make sure that what happened in the past doesn't happen again - the woman's kind of passed the point of no return." he suggests. And he decides, given Glimmer's situation, not to mention his helping nudge things in that direction.

    "I mean, she vanished without a trace or warning right after she messed with my brother's head and tried to convert Tokyo into her personal battery, so if someone else is upsetting anybody I'm not sure who the heck it'd be."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon shook her head. "Where. Is. She?" Glimmer asked, slowly lowering her hands. Fists clenched. "I need to know. I *have* to find her. I have to *stop* them before he gets *killed*," she said. And she was trying to keep herself in check. Trying to keep herself under control.

But her breathing was fast. Eratic. Panicked.

She was scared. No. She was terrified. Everything she'd worked for. All of it.

Every single bit of it was drifting away. And she couldn't stop it. She HAD to stop it. She had to protect him. If he died...

If he died, it didn't matter. None of it mattered. "I can't... lost him... Takashi. I won't... I can't... I know... you're not like these people here. I know you're not... not the best guy in the world. But I know you're not a monster... either. It's why I work with you. Why I help you."

"... But I need your help. I desperately... I desperately need you to do the right thing right now..."

And she was trying to play nice. But while she was trying nice, at first? She was already considering going... not so nice. She didn't want to hurt her ally... but if the choice came between him or Bow? Well...

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Hey, I am totally the best guy in the world." Takashi replies. It's hard to tell if he's genuinely saying that or just trying to lift Glimmer's spirits by joking - by pulling that out of her list of concerns. Still, she actually has his attention and sympathy.

    "Even if I told you where she probably is, it's not like you're an ace at this world's geography. It's also the other side of the planet." he notes. "My brother's there too, you know. But until the Board decides to declare her out, she's still technically our boss and there's not much we can do. I don't fancy living the life of my other friend, who left Obsidian and now has to watch every corner for some literally shadowy figure with a knife." he continues.

    "What are you so dramatic about, Glimmer-chan?" he asks. "I mean, isn't he just your knight? Shouldn't he be out fighting for you while you sit in the castle?" he asks. "Ah, right, Princess has that different meaning where you're from, doesn't it. Does Knight mean something else as well, beyond someone who fights to protect you?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon clenched her fists, shaking her head. "It... I... it doesn't... I..." she trailed off, looking up at him. "Then do... something. I don't care what. Just... do it. He's already gone. I don't know when he left. But he told me he's probably going to die." No. No he didn't.

"I..." And then... she glared up at him. "I... Fine. Fine. Nobody else knows, can know this. Not even him. But... I love him. In our final fight, in our final battle? I... told him. I told him how I felt. I love him. He loves me. It was glorious. We stopped Horde Prime. We saved the world. We fought and we won, despite everything. We won."

"But he doesn't remember that. Okay?" And now? There was one tear, going down her cheek. "He doesn't remember any of it. We were going to have our hard earned, wonderful happily ever after and he remembers none of it. Now he has a girlfriend. She's sweet, really. But.... but he doesn't *know* any of that."

"And now he's going off and he's going to *die* because he's an *idiot* who will do anything for his friends and Adora isn't there and I'm not there and I can't even tell him and I can't... I can't... lose him... I can't... be on this stupid planet and lose him... So you have to help me... you *will* help me..." And her fists were starting to glow with light.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi sighs. Okay. More issues with the timeline, more issues with another world, more interpersonal issues... but to a higher degree. "Man. Whether he remembers it later or not, that's gonna be really awkward." he says, at first.

    "You're a queen, right?" He asks, even as he fists begin to glow. "That means there's a whole nation depending on you, or a whole planet, or whatever your role is." he begins. "And that means you have a responsibility not to run off and get yourself killed - especially over some dude who doesn't remember you have a relationship." he adds. "He's probably going to be fine, he's in a big pile of other sparklesquad. You should have seen the energy signature - actually, I guess it wouldn't have made much sense to you."

    "I mean really if you go off and die too, do you think Melog's gonna keep me from turning your big crystal into a science experiment or something?" He adds. He knows she's protective of it, too. "Heck, Melog needs you too, and it's been a lot more loyal to you than most humans are to each other." he adds, gesturing towards the crystal.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon blinked a few times, her fists shaking. "Takashi... I spent an *entire war* as queen... having to *always* put my people first. I had to stand by. And let. People. Get hurt. I had to run away. So I could save people later. I had to hold back. Because I needed to be where my people needed me. And you know what I learned? I learned that was *not* the kind of queen I was going to be. I love my mother, but I am *not* her."

"If my people are in danger, I *will not* stand back and let it happen. And I... can't... let... Bow die. Besides. Etheria isn't here. And I know him. They don't. They don't know how obstinate and self sacrificing he can be."

"... And if he dies, I can't... I won't die. But Melog... Melog would understand. And if you really think that... mockery of a queen could kill me, you dramatically underestimate how durable I am. Horde Prime couldn't do it. Hordak couldn't do it. And I will *not* let Beryl do it."

"So please. How do I get there? IF you really are my friend, if you really are *different* from a lot of these... fools here... then help me."

Help me.

Help me or I'll MAKE you help me.

She didn't say it. But she was thinking it. Could she take him? Really, truly? For Bow... possibly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi looked up, crossed his arms, and let out a long, slow sigh. "Fine. Fine. It's stupid, dangerous, reckless, ill-advised, and frankly pointless - but since when has that stopped literally anybody ever." he says, with absolutely zero self-reflection.

    "Three things." he begins, holding up his fingers and counting off. "One, I think this is a terrible idea, and I'm going to say so again..." he says.

    "Two, I can get you to wherever they ported to - in a general area, anyways - but from there on out, it's all your problem. I'd get your not-boyfriend and jump out. Hopefully you know how to unlock your phone so I can get you on a plane or something, because I don't think I can pull you BACK." he says, bluntly.

    "Three, you owe me. It's going to take a significant expenditure of energy to get you to Paris - especially to put you on target. We're talking nearly halfway around the planet. You have so much going on in that head of yours you haven't told me and now it is offically making you make poor decisions, and preventing me from being able to ascertain your full motives and thus entirely trust you." he says. "So, I will send you there on the condition that when you get back... you actually tell me what you're here for - I've indulged your one-girl-show long enough, but I know you're still hiding things from me and you are NOT as much of a chaos gremlin as you desperately try to come off as."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a small nod, staring at him. Then, slowly, she looked back from him, then to the Moonstone. To Melog.

She put her hands together and pulled them apart. A magic circle appeared and she pushed her hand through it.

"Very well. I'll tell you what I'm hiding. So long as you and *only* you know. But... agreed. Help me save Bow, and I'll tell you everything." A magic binding thing? To ensure he kept his word?

... Or to ensure she did it?

Or maybe it was all smoke and mirrors and didn't do anything, who knew?

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi was... still suspicious, but he took her hand and shook it. The swirl encompasing them. "Fair enough. Don't go back on this or you won't get any other help from me." He says, bluntly.

    Pulling his hand back he sighed and started to put his stuff away. "Okay I need about ten minutes. I have to do some calculations and get a teleportation circle ready... you should go get a taco or something. I don't know where you're ending up but in France they don't speak our language, and while your card should work the communication barrier is gonna be pretty real, so I'd make sure you ate before you go. This should be a more stable teleport so you shouldn't need to worry about nausea." he says.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon let out a sigh of relief. "Fine. I'll run down, get something to eat, then be right back to recharge on my stone... Thank you," she said, before disappearing.

Telling him everything? Well... if he was good, deep down? It'd be fine. He hadn't... given... her much reason to doubt him. And some of the sparkles trusted him. So sure, even if he was a bad guy it didn't entirely mean he was a bad guy, right?

.... Right?