2456/Train with me, Senpai!

Train with me, Senpai!
Date of Scene:	08 April 2025
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Hotaru wakes up Setsuna a little early so she can ask for the unthinkable... Training. As Saturn. One terrifying void later, the Senshi of death begins to learn what her duty truly is.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Setsuna Meiou

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
It was not every day that Setsuna, or as some knew her, Sailor Pluto, woke up to having a new roommate in her home.

Just the best ones, and most of the recent ones.

And it was on a weekend that both Michiru and Haruka had to go out for their respective 'being amazing at just about everything, no, seriously, we're just that cool' tours (Or, as Hotaru often calls them, 'But... but why can't I come? Bed times should just be suggestions... I know I have school... pouty face' tours) that Setsuna would be awoken by a quick flurry of rapataps on her door...

... And the smell of... something... burned...?

Before the door opened and Hotaru came walking into the room! Carrying a... tray... and... she'd tried to cook.

... That was what we were going to call the burned food on her plate. 'Cooking'. Perhaps it was grits? ... Possibly orange juice?

... "Goooood morning Setsuna-mama."

Ahhhhh. 'Setsuna-mama'. Breakfast in bed. That grin.

Hotaru wanted something...

... Also, it was BEFORE Setsuna's normally designated 'I wake up PRECISELY at this second' time... with enough time to burn breakfast.

Hotaru DEFINITELY wanted something.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna is, amongst her housemates at least, well known to be rather a slow-waking bear in the mornings...and that's even AFTER the point of precision she rises from bed.

And while she CAN be awoken before that time, she is exponentially more grumpy.

Thus, when there's a gentle rapping, someone gently tapping at her chamber door, the greenhaired woman rolls over, looks at the door through squinted eyes and declares, "...whfadunnnd?"

It should also be mentioned that she's well known for being rather incoherent before her morning coffee.

When the door opens to let in the slight burning smell, Setsuna pushes herself up a little, "...hzzza?"

And then she shees the tray.

Eyes get squinted closed, then cracked open again...and the process repeats itself as she tries to process what she's seeing.

A look is turned towards the younger woman that is rapidly scrunching up towards a glare...right until the words 'Setsuna-mama' are processed...at which point Setsuna's eyes close completely, she heaves out a single heavy breath...and then she pushes herself up to a sitting position before working to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

She then arches her back, cracks her neck one way, then the other...and lets out a tremendous yawn before she turns back to the purple haired one, absently smacking her lips a bit, "...so, Hotaru-chan...what brings you here at six fifty seven and thirty four seconds?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a big grin as she put the tray down and then sat at the foot of the bed. "Welllllll... you know how I'm actually a Sailor Senshi now? Like, legitimately, not just as a disguise? Sailor Saturn, remember?" As if ANY of them could forget THAT. "And the other... me... said I needed to train before ummm... I was ready?"

Or she'd literally WIPE EXISTENCE CLEAN.

"I thought, you know.... since Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa aren't here today, mayyyyyybe you and I could go out... maybe somewhere... alone... restricted... private... and you could teach me how to be a Sailor Senshi?"

Admittedly, the outers WERE her first picks for this... but.... a part of her also wanted to ask Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask to train her too.... but that was her PRINCESS and kind of her PRINCE, she wanted to be passable before that! More importantly, she'd be fighting ALONE now. And fighting WITHOUT Luminous Titan to cover her was going to be a... lot harder.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna picks up the...drink?

She takes a moment to stare at it...the contents of the glass being an electric blue in color.

Slowly, carefully, Setsuna takes an experimental sniff...blinks, pulls back to stare at the glass again...then slowly takes a sip.

Smells like orange juice.

TASTES like orange juice.

Even has little bits of pulp.

It's just a vibrant, electric blue.

Another long look is taken, then the older woman gives a shrug and takes a longer pull from her drink as she listens to Hotaru's request for a tutor for all things Senshi.

After which, Setsuna blinks, then yawns a bit and stretches one last time before saying, "...well, it's a bit earlier in the day than I'd intended...but sure."

Things are rearranged out of her way, and Setsuna stands up, revealing that her typical super extra large tshirt that she bombs around the house in today has a picture of a classical atom model on it with the legend 'Science doesn't care what you believe'.

She turns back to Hotaru, "...alright then, step one. Can you summon your henshin device yet?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe watched with baited breath. Literally. Her breath was fully baited. Helled tightly. Closed. No breathing. Just waiting. Watching.

Dun dun dun duuuuun.

YES! The dye in the orange juice seemed to have paid off. A little extra color in someone's life was OFTEN good. And useful! She grinned and jumped off the bed and nodded. "Yes I can! Actually..."

She waved her hand. Pen appeared.

She waved it again. Pen disappeared.

Pen appeared.

Pen disappeared.

Pen appeared.

Pen disappeared.

Pillow appeared.

Hotaru stared at the pillow. "How in the... what... even... is this?"

Blink blink. Shrug. Pillow disappeared.

Pen appeared!

"I am the pen master! Oh ho ho ho ho!" ... It might not have actually warranted an ojou laugh.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Hotaru demonstrates that she's gotten the hang of summoning her henshin pen, Setsuna smiles and looks on...though she does blink and chuckle slighty when a pillow is produced.

She quickly covers her lips with a hand, then waves her free one absently, "Don't worry about that too much. The place where you store your henshin device is also where the Silence Glaive is stored...along with possibly other small things your prior incarnation might have stored there..."

Setsuna trails off, pondering that for a moment as she extends that thought to the other senshi and what they might all have floating unknown in their dimensional pockets.

A moment later, she shakes her head to clear it, then nods, "Good. Now, step two. Hold your pen up in the air and you should feel your specific activation phrase come to mind...but it'll likely be something similar to 'PLUTO PLANET POWER, MAKE-UP!'"

And as she says that, the taller woman takes a big step to an open part of the room, her henshin pen in hand...and with an explosion of cosmic nonsense and a tightly controlled wall of wind, when it drops, Setsuna has been replaced with Sailor Pluto.

Absently tapping the end of the Garnet Rod on the floor, producing a small burst of magical energy and a distinctive chime before stepping back a little , Sailor Pluto goes on, "...now you do it...but first step into the open space of the room and do try to be careful. I'm fairly certain that the Silence Glaive is going to manifest during your henshin, and even without any magical power being channeled through it, it's likely to be absurdly sharp."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked a few times and then realized... oh. Ohhhh, she was NOT clear. "I know how to henshin and all that, it's the innate stuff," she said before looking down at her pen.

"Saturn planet power, make-up!" she called, before undergoing a rather rapid henshin, her tiara and uniform appearing on her and...

... Holy crud.

Was she that short last time? Her glaive, standing up, was almost twice as tall as her. Even longer than the garnet rod.

... Then again, it was for wiping out all life, perhaps the size was to give her pause whenever she lifted it.

"I know about henshining and... okay, I do need to learn more about my attacks. But... I want to know more about what it means to be a senshi. To be like you. My duty, my... what I need to do. How I can do it. What is expected of me. Things like that," Hotaru said, her cheeks a little red.

That, admittedly... was stuff even her past incarnation likely had limited knowledge of.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto ahs, "Well, that's a bit more flexible these days. Mostly because...well..."

She frowns a moment, then rubs her face, "...let's just go for a high-level overview right now...the Senshi are the reincarnated Guardians from an Empire that existed thousands of years ago...each associated with the planet that powers them. There's a lot of history, but none of it is particularly important right now, because here in the present, our roles are rather different."

She sits down on the end of her bed and crosses her legs, "Basically, our role is to guard the Princess and her Prince...and to fight against the various threats against this world...since we all live here."

An absent wave of her hand is given, "...also, we didn't have so many allies before...people like Page Mage and Yellow Pearl Voice."

Sailor Pluto then trails off for a moment, tapping her lips, "...now you SHOULD have at least ONE attack that doesn't involve a wide-scale reset...but given how powerful our attacks tend to be, you're right we should go someplace else to throw those around..."

She hrms, "...well, I know ONE place that's about ideal, but most everyone gets really WIERD about it when I take them there..."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded, listening in. She knew... a lot of this. But well.... her role had never truly been that. Now it was. And she was positively giddy and excited to start.

Unfortunately, where they were starting was the question. She nodded, listening intently as she spoke. "Yeah, they're really cool. I like them. And... uhhhhh... I don't... know if I do... actually. I have the barrier. But I don't know if I have anything other than.... stabbing... And sure! A weird place sounds like fun! Let's go there! How bad could it be?"

She did, in fact, voice those words ON PURPOSE!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto shrugs, "That's what *I* say, but Sailor Moon, Page Mage, and Rocket Red all got wierd there."

She then stands up, the Garnet Rod appearing in her off hand once more, and she steps over to stand beside Saturn before reaching with her free hand to the shorter Senshi next to her, "Well, then...take my hand and we'll go."

She waits a few moments...and as soon as Saturn does take her hand, there's a moment where the world dissolves into white...and then it slowly fades away...to a less intense white?



Dispite the feeling of a hard surface underfoot, all that can be seen is an apparently limitless white void.

From next to Saturn, Pluto says, "Welcome, to the Gates of Time. Given that there's literally nothing in most of the directions here, you should be able to test out what you can do."

The older Senshi takes a slight step away to allow clearance, "...given the way that the Senshi transformation was designed, it's quite possible that you have at least one attack already that doesn't involve hammering down on the cosmic reset button for a huge swath of space...and as long as you don't do the incantation for THAT attack, there's little chance you'll unleash it by accident...but for now, let's see your barrier."

She then blinks as something comes to her, "...oh...and unlike with Device-mages, senshi don't come with a default 'nonlethal' setting. You'll need to practice your output until you can modulate it a bit more."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn nodded and took her hand. A moment later they were in... the void? She giggled a little, looking around. It didn't seem so...

... And slowly her mind began to become more and more aware of what it was seeing. As horizons that did not exist fell away, as reality just... made... less sense. It was like being in a witch's labyrinth but... in a new way. It wasn't scary or frightening or filled with wonder in the way a witch's labyrinth was...

It was empty. It was void. There was nothing there.

Sailor Saturn reached out with her left arm and wrapped it around Pluto's leg, grasping onto her and pulling herself close, clutching onto her as an anchor to reality. Staring. Trying, bit by bit, to understand what she saw and giving a soft, delicate whimper.

Then, gradually, she pulled away as her mind began to properly process and acknowledge what she was seeing.

Okay. Right. Limitless voice. She could... do this. "Uhhhh... Right. Barrier..."

"Silence wall!" she called, before bringing the glaive down, against the ground. Oh, that had to give the poor senshi a near heart attack. A moment later, a barrier of energy formed out from her, protecting the two of them. Every bit as strong as one would expect the barrier of such a destructive power to be.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Saturn wrapped her arm around Pluto's leg, the taller Senshi sighed, having expected the reaction.

In response, she gave a supportive one-armed hug to Saturn as she waited for her to get her bearings.

She then lets the shorter Senshi take her time, standing quietly by as she gathers herself, then steps clear and brings the Glaive down.

Pluto DOES twitch slightly at that...but it's very quickly supressed and muted...as she has not only seen the barrier before, but she vividly remembers the verbal incantation for Saturn's 'reset'.

So as the barrier goes up, Pluto steps forward and absently raps it with her knuckles before giving it a light strike with the ring part of the Garnet Rod, "...excellent. Frankly between this and the fact that the Silence Glaive is a TREMENDOUSLY sharp artifact, you could do very well in most fights."

She then steps back, "...but I would HOPE that when they set up your transformation, they would have given you SOMETHING between 'Pure Defense' and 'Destroy Everything'."

Pluto steps forward and places a hand on Saturn's shoulder, "I'd suggest at first just focusing inward and thinking about needing to attack something substantial but not world-ending..."

After a moment, she smirks, "...like, for instance, a youma possessing a truck the size of Akihabara."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn urked and then gave a soft little squeak, looking up. "W-wait. Uhhhhh... so... you heard about when I did that?" she asked sheepishly. "In my defense, that truck was absolutely massive and just... wow. And Uranus stopped me, with Venus. So... ummmm..."

"... IT really was a big truck, I don't know why someone would even have that..." she said softly. "It was built ford tough, though." Oh, the puns. There were so many, many delightful puns in that battle...

She then closed her eyes, holding her glaive aloft as she channeled her power through it...

Fortunately, the 'silence glaive' had its full power locked away for now, so even if she tried to reset reality she couldn't. But finding other attacks she had... that... was far, far more difficult. And she tried to focus, imagining what form her attack would take...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto, by this point, has gotten more bemused by the whole event than she typically lets on, "...in my defense, I wasn't entirely awake when I asked what kind of car she'd like me to get...and all I got was that she likes cars that 'haul'."

She then shrugs, "...so I ordered the one with the biggest hauling capacity."

She leaves out what, exactly, Haruka ACTUALLY said...mainly because she's quite certain that Hotaru, having existed for more than five minutes in Haruka's vicinity, is well aware of what the rest of the statement was.

Besides, the story is more amusing this way.

As Saturn started to focus, looking within, Pluto coached her with a calm, soft voice, "...don't try to force anything...your power is written on your very being...it's a part of you just like your healing...which will probably come rather easier when you're in your Senshi form."

Pluto sinks to one knee and continues in that steady voice, "...feel down to your core...where your power comes from...pull a little of it out, channel it through your body...circulate it...for almost certainly you should have at least one other attack to use to surprise someone who thinks you can only act in extremes with."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
"Haul what? Buildings? Continents? Planets?" Sailor Saturn asked, not skipping a beat. What? She knew what she was in for, she came here. With Hotaru.

Still, she took the guiddance she was offered. Slow, deep breaths. Focusing her power on the glaive. Letting it come out. Wielding it... it was her glaive. It was her power. The power was hers.

She held it. And she alone. She then did a little spin, the glaive swirling around her before she swiped the glaive, the blade going from down, to up!

"Silence Glaive Surprise!" she called out! Power erupted from the end of her glaive, coursing along the ground, a wave of destructive power, crushing and destroying all in its path.... Which... admittedly... nothing was there. So, you know. There was nothing to destroy. For the best, honestly.

She stood there, panting, staring and... "How... ummmm... how do I control THAT?!" she asked. "How do I STOP that?! Is it still going?!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Saturn's comeback about the TRUCK OF DOOOOOM's carrying capacity gets a wry twist of the lips and an arched eyebrow from Pluto...but she then just gives a slight nod, point conceded.

And then she just sat back and waited, letting Saturn take her time to work out her attack.

Once she saw the twitch she'd been looking for as Saturn began to move, Pluto stood up and took a step back so that she'd be out of the way.

And then Saturn spins and sends a spinning wave of destructive power tearing off downrange.

The taller Senshi watches it go for a moment before turning back to Saturn, "In order, with practice, generally by hitting a worthy target, and yes...but given that the space we're in is technically infinite, I can tell you there are many, MANY thousands of Dead Screams flying in all directions that it's in good company with."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn blinked a few time, opening her mouth and trying to come up with something to say. Finally... she just asked.

"Do you think they get lonely? I mean... wouldn't they... lost their power eventually, too? Does magic not get tired the further it goes?" Saturn asked, before lowering the glaive. "... What if I can't learn to control it? I mean... what if..." She was silent for a few moments, struggling to think of the right words. Finally, she figured them out.

"What if I'm a bad senshi? What if me having this power is a mistake? And I'm not worthy of it? I mean... I'm younger than all of the others, and I've been a... bad guy, in the past. So... what... if I fail? Or worse, hold you all back?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto reaches up and absently taps her lips as she thinks, "...well, I suppose that the magic will eventually lose cohesion and disappate..."

She shrugs, "I don't know how far it'll go before that happens though."

She then gives Saturn a soft smile and steps forward, then drops to a knee to hug the shorter Senshi, "Oh, Saturn...I was younger than you when I first became a Senshi..."

She then gently urges Saturn to turn around so that she can see the Gates not to far away, "...and I was tasked to be the Guardian of the Gates of Time themselves. It took me a while to get where I am now."

Technically, a VERY VERY LONG while...

Pluto then gives a little more of a hug, "The power can't be mistaken...it's tied to you and you alone...none else can wield it...and as for 'being a bad guy'?"

She snorts, "Might I remind you of who Sailor Moon's Prince used to work for? Or his friends?"

Finally, she shakes her head, "...and I'll remind you that you weren't holding us back when you weren't even using your own power."

A hand is waved off in the direction that Saturn's attack flew, "...all you need to do is do that over and over again until you have it firing off smoothly and it's power well regulated. It'll probably take some time, but I'll always be happy to bring you here to practice."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn listened intently, once again, as her senpai gave her more advice. She nodded along, lightly hmming. "You... were?" she asked softly. A small relieved grin forming on her lips. "That's comforting. So I'm not the youngest, then. You must have been doing this for ages, then. Cayuuse the way you talk sometimes, you seem very, very old," she mumbled gently, a thoughtful look on her face. "And I guess that's true... Mamoru-sempai was also a villain... ish...." she whispered.

She then turned and walked off, just a bit, taking position... before she began to swing her glaive. Practicing the strike. It was going to take a long, long time before she was ready to do anything approaching true 'control', though. Not that she couldn't reduce it... just... Well.... doing it in response to an enemy? To try and control it, rather than just unleash an attack? She still had a while yet... But that was what this practice would be for.