2014-04-21 - Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End
| Title: Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Tuxedo Mask wants to talk to Sailor V. This can have a happy ending, right? Nevermind that the last time they spoke, she yelled at him to stay away from the Princess. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: The rooftops of Shitamachi Low City | |
| OOC - IC Date: 3 January 2014 - 4/21/14 | |
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
It is, of course, a moonlit night. The moon's not full, it's a beautiful crescent in the sky; its pale silver light is in competition with those of the city, but it still serves to mute colors and cast everything on the rooftops in a softened, dreamlike focus.
The fight was furious and quick, and Sailor V had it well in hand; the dust that the youma crumbles into is blowing away in the cold January wind, everything momentarily silent and still for a second, with nothing but the sound of Minako's quick, exerted breath on the air, clouding it.
Then a pointed white mask appears in the shadow of an HVAC unit, and an older boy in a long, starry black cape with a white tie and tails steps out, white-gloved hands open and empty for Sailor V to see.
"Well done," he says, hair blowing in the same wind that scatters the remains of the youma and billows his cape, "as ever. I'd like to talk to you."
<Pose Tracker> Sailor V [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
As the fight came to a close, V barely had time to regain her composure before being accosted by that masked stranger. She's immediately back on her guard, whirling around to face the older boy with a fierce stare. "You--!"
Her instinct is to reach for her Crescent Moon Compact, but once she's over her initial shock, she calms down just a touch; that hand is still on the Compact, but she doesn't yet move to attack.
Maintaining that glare, though, she takes in a deep breath through gritted teeth and asks, "What do you want from me?"
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
He doesn't move. He looks braced for an attack, but Tuxedo Kamen continues to hold his hands out and open, facing down Sailor V's fury unarmed.
"I want you to talk to Sailor Moon," he says firmly. "She and the other Senshi with her are also tasked with protecting the Princess and the Ginzuishou. If that is truly also your mission-- which I expect it is, given your response to me before-- then don't you think you should combine forces?"
He takes another step closer, and the moonlight glints off his mask but doesn't obscure his blue eyes, which are steady and wary, but unafraid.
"You can't tell me this time that you've never heard of her. She and her friends have been in the news. And she looks up to you, Sailor V."
<Pose Tracker> Sailor V [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
Apparently, that wasn't exactly the response that Sailor V was expecting, and the girl falters a bit before she can come up with a response. However, Tuxedo Mask's approach does cause her to take a corresponding two steps back, her expression turning a bit nervous as she retreats.
"I'm not sure who you are," she finally begins, hesitantly. Then, a bit more firmly, "I don't know who you are. You hide in the dark and you're trying to find the same thing I'm looking for. As far as I'm concerned, this makes you my enemy... and potentially the enemy of Sailor Moon and her friends as well." Shaking her head, she takes another step back, her grip on the compact tightening a bit. "From where I'm standing, I don't see any reason why I should have to answer to you."
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"I'm not asking you to answer to me," the boy says, shaking his head. He stops his approach at Sailor V's reaction to it, at her nervousness, and his hands drop to his sides. He's only come far enough to be completely out of the shadows.
"I just want you to talk to her. If you decide to, then you can ask her if I am your enemy. You have no reason to believe me if I tell you I'm not, and that I have chosen to lend my abilities to them, to help them in their search instead of competing."
His mouth twists up into a wry little smile, but there's no bitterness. The cant of his head, the look on his face and in his eyes-- these are things that the incarnated Goddess of Love and Beauty should be able to recognise without fail.
"You were right. I couldn't hope to protect her myself. But I can help."
<Pose Tracker> Sailor V [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
Despite Tux's calming demeanor, Sailor V still looks hesitant. "For now... it's better for them if I stay away from them." She lets out a sigh, one both of frustration and resignation, but does finally let go of her Compact, rubbing her elbow with the opposite hand. "If I join her group, then things will start being unsafe for them."
Turning to face the moon, the girl's expression turns a bit more wistful, and with her hair blowing gently in the moonlight, she presents an almost tragic figure. "The way they are now... it wouldn't be fair to do that to them. If I only could, I'd keep it away from them forever, but eventually everything good has to end... doesn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
For a long moment, the youth in the tuxedo and the moonlit white mask watches Sailor V, and the frustration in her voice is echoed in his face--
--as is the sadness.
Then he can't help but look up at the moon, himself, and his face clears. "No, Sailor V. Every ending comes with a beginning, and it's important that we don't forget that some endings make room for better things than the ones we've lost."
Tuxedo Mask looks back to the blonde girl, and he's smiling. "Even if we have to fight with everything we are to make it so, even if today turns as dark as a moonless night and we think we've lost everything, even if the world crumbles around us, we can do no less than to keep hope in our hearts that tomorrow will be brighter."
The smile doesn't leave, but it's softer, and it's full of a painful empathy. "No one should be alone, Sailor V. I understand your hesitation, your wish to keep them away from danger, but I ask you to consider it from all the angles you can find, to weigh the risks and the benefits. You could help them, and by accepting their help, they can only make you stronger and better able to fight for their safety."
The boy spreads his hands. "I can give you my number if you want to contact her; I can pass the information on and you can sort it out from there, if you ever decide you'd like to. I don't know if you know how to find her, otherwise."
<Pose Tracker> Sailor V [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
As Tuxedo Mask speaks, Sailor V gradually turns away from him - not with any intent to leave, but instead to look up at the crescent moon in the sky. Folding her arms behind herself, she straightens her back as she looks up at the satellite, and for a moment doesn't seem to have heard the boy's words.
"The moon is really beautiful, isn't it? Looking down over us as it passes peacefully across the night sky... but it's going to have to see more hardship before it sees peace here on Earth." She shakes her head gently, letting out another sigh before she turns to face Tuxedo Mask again. "I've been keeping an eye on Sailor Moon; she's been doing a good job." There's a small smile, there, finally a lapse in her melancholy. "When the time is right, I'll tell her what she needs to know."
<Pose Tracker> Tuxedo Mask [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"I hope," Tuxedo Mask says, a hint of mischief in his voice, "that that includes the part about her doing a good job."
That said, the boy flourishes a very theatrical bow. "Thank you very much for hearing me out," he tells her as he straightens up. "And for the record, it's Tuxedo Kamen. Good night, Sailor V. I wish you the best of outcomes, as well as a bright new year."
Instead of stepping into the shadows, he reaches into his cape, and with one smooth motion, he produces his top hat and rolls it down his other arm, then places it jauntily on his head. "We'll meet again."
With that, he turns with a showy sweep of his cape and leaps away into the night sky, vanishing into the city lights and shadows of night.
