2021-10-30 - A Christmas Caroil (Part 1)

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Title: A Christmas Caroil
Summary:

Hinoko Konishi, shining poet, has a problem: her father's house is haunted by vengeful spirits. Yuuichiro Kumada, priest-in-training, is pretty sure he has the exorcism to fix it. But it's the magical girls who discover the truth: a ghost is never just a ghost. It's Caroiler!

Who:

Rei Hino (as Yuuichiro Kumada), Lera Camry, Nori Ankou, Usagi Tsukino, Setsuna Higashi, Haruka Tenoh, Fuu Hououji

Where:

Tama - Nishitama

OOC - IC Date:

2021-10-30 - 2015-12-16. I'm at the Christmas. I'm at the Halloween. I'm at the combination Christmas-Halloween.


<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> Sailor Moon S - Mingling With The Rich https://www.youtube.com.watch?v=UOLl5IJIYsc

It's mid-December, and between the rising nerves of final exams, Christmas is coming. Excitement bubbles like a cauldron in one of Infinity's secret classes; particularly for the youth of today, the romance of Christmas Eve is hard to resist. A dozen-dozen rumours fly through the halls of the Sister Schools, many of which to do with who was seen with whom.

But, there's one...

"The Konishi mansion is haunted!"
"Eeeh? You mean Hiroko-san's family..?"
"I heard her dad merged a company, and the spirits of the unquiet dead are demanding union benefits!"
"Tell us you got a new baito without telling us you got a new baito, why don't you."

The details change in the telling, but the core remains the same: Hiroko Konishi's family has been visited by troublesome spirits. Hiroko, a talented poet engaged with Infinity's creative streams, has been quiet about these rumours herself for the past few days, even as they've spread from the Tower to the halls of Juuban and the gardens of Ohtori. But now, she's reached out to the clubs -- she's not a member herself, you understand, but she collaborates widely for poetry material -- for some supportive ears.

"You see," she says, to each person she gathers, "it is true. A spirit has claimed my father's house."

She brushes her short purple hair back, and looks out, with concerned blue eyes. "It troubles me to ask, but... can you help me..?"

It's a weekday evening, when she calls everyone to meet at the Konishi estate -- she's invited everyone to sleep over, if they like, which could be quite useful, because it's located past the outer suburbs of Tama. An old, Japanese-style manse on impossible woodland, the iron gates which lead within creaaak...

And there to meet them, of course, is the hotheaded spiritualist of Hikawa Shrine.

The one.

The only.

                    YUUICHIRO KUMADA, priest-in-training!

At the doorway of the estate, this young man -- more scuff than fellow, with long and messy brown hair, all dressed in robes -- laughs, a hand to the back of his head. "I heard you were having problems, so I came along to help! Ahh, it will be my first real exorcism, but... don't worry!"

Hiroko looks a little worried, but regardless, she invites everyone inside. The sitting-room is generously-sized -- there are plenty of seats for everyone, and places to put their bags, if they've brought them. Hiroko clears her throat, as she comes to the point, hands folded together in her lap. "I would not ask someone else to dalliance in our affairs," she always talks like that, the rumour about school is that she's been writing for so long that she's forgotten how to speak. "Only, my father retreats to his study, and refuses visits from family and coworker. I myself received but a single missive about his plight... ghasts appearing in the night. This is the first time I've been home, since then. I know not how they appear, and neither am I aware of their aims. Regardless..."

Hiroko looks down at her hands, already-pale skin paling further. "I... have little appetite for ghost stories. I shall ask you to search them out in my stead." Despite being a middle-schooler, she already has a vocabulary like that... perhaps it's no wonder Hiroko isn't rumoured to have many close friendships.

Thoughtfully, she's provided an assortment of torches, just in case the lights fail. Yuuichiro takes one, and strides off towards the hall, all with expensive vases on little tables. "All right!" He declares, entirely confident. "Let's do this!"

It's time to HUNT A GHOST.



<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Lera Camry sort of knows, by now, that spooky happens in October and romance happens in Christmas. So do trees, elves, gifts, and a fat elf who lives in a tree and gives gifts. This is the knowledge of an American.

But hauntings have to be looked into no matter the month.

The orange-haired girl is gathered with the others, with the agreement to help. Her eyes widen a little at the words 'claimed my father's house,' and she nods very seriously. She clutches her flashlight nervously, holding it next to her. Then, she glances sideways at Setsuna Higashi. They're together, of course.

She looks back at Yuuichiro -- and watches him take off so bravely. She swallows, then she says: "Right. Ghosts, y'know? No big deal. Everything will be fine!"

She steps back. Two steps back. Then, two side steps to the left. Which puts Setsuna in front of her.

BEFORE

SETSUNA LERA

AFTER

SETSUNA
LERA

"L-Let's go! Lead the way, Setsuna!"


<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

NORI ANKOU, member of the Reads Tarot Cards Sometimes Recreationally Club, reaches out to place her cool hands atop of Hiroko's. Gazing into her eyes, she says:

"Yes. At least, I will try."

On some level, she's excited. But then, the several ghosts that she has met have been distinctly of the friendly persuasion. Perhaps tonight, Nori Ankou will learn some caution. Some sense. A certain air of respect... or at least, of maturity.

Nori drove over in her car, which she remains proud of; the small white American-made vehicle has power and independence written all over it, even if its main advantage here is the feeling that she's travelling somewhere in secret, as well as being able to facilitate her friends, comrades and colleagues along the way.

"So," Nori asks, on the expressway: "How did she ask each of you...?"

Is it really OK for her to be driving a car on the freeway like this?

Yes. Because she is... GLAMOROUS.

SOON, AT THE HOUSE

Nori is wearing a somewhat old-style drapey dress, mostly black with the usual akamira embroidered flourishes and some elbow-length gloves. This becomes less chilly with a gauzy shawl (and there was also a coat which she was wearing in the car, which is not appearing in this film).

She has already assented to this mission in her heart. So, to Hiroko, she nods! Once. Then she tests one of the flashlights, wincing as she briefly blinds herself.

"There's an old song in English... 'We'll tell scary ghost stories,'" Nori quotes, completely mangling the actual english, "'and tales of the glories of long ago Christmases'," Nori offers, before continuing, "Kumada-san, have you ever hunted a ghost before?"


<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.


"Enjoying ourselves at Konishi-san's home~"

"Ghooosssts..."

Usagi Tsukino shivers, as she considers the dual possibilities, repeating it back and forth. Switching from a gleeful high to a terrified - shivering - clinched fist low as she repeats it.

"Honestly I'm more worried about Yuuichiro-san. Does he even have spiritual powers?" Luna says with an air of feline skepticism.

Usagi comes out of her cycle just to answer Luna. "I mean, he's spending a lot of time around Rei-chan and her Grandpa. I think he'll be alright!"

"Ohhhh? Do you feel qualified to exorcise a ghost just because you hang around with Rei-chan a lot?"

"Absolutely not!" Usagi says immediately, completely ignoring the fact that she's Sailor Moon and probably fights infinite things worse than ghosts.

Luna just stares at her for a good ten seconds as this conversation hasn't gone the way she expected, before coughing into her paw. "... Do you... not see the holes in your logic?"

Usagi owlishly blinks her bright blue eyes in confusion, before staring at Luna. "... Not a one?"

Luna just sighs. "Either way - you should go. It's not impossible that it could be a Daimon or a Droid..."

"Wait... really?" Usagi seems stunned at the idea that it might not just be a ghost.

-=-=-

Usagi is wearing a violet sweatshirt with a small white bunny logo on the left side of it, she had been wearing a pair of cream colored mittens and a matching scarf until she'd entered the house, having left those at the door.

While she's in the midst of leaving those (and her shoes, or at least she starts to, but might stop depending on the etiquette at this particular house) at the door, she turns to the others and offers her own vote of confidence to Lera, Setsuna, and Nori, "Don't worry! He's from the Hikawa Shrine after all-! As the Miko Rei-chan's best friend - I know better than anyone how qualified he is-!"

Usagi does however, take a seat at her invitation, expression pensive, nervously grasping her skirt with her thumbnails as she listens.

"Thank you for the invitati- Ghasts?" She squeaks, as the color drains out of her face. "Aha... ha..."

For the moment, she looks a bit abstracted, not immediately clambering to follow Yuuichirou.

Give her a minute, she'll likely join the marching order near the end. (She may need longer given some of Nori's talk of scary ghost songs.)


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Setsuna Higashi is not a poet, and she knows it. She just has no head for the stuff. But she's very impressed by those who can do it, it being something of a mystery to her. ...Rumors also tend to be a bit of a mystery to her, frankly, because she doesn't pay very much attention to them as a rule, but this one reached out to her, popular transfer student about Juuban. And Hiroko tells her a spirit has claimed her father's house...

"Oh," Setsuna says, "That's unusual, isn't it?" A pause. "...I'll do my best!"

Here and now... Lera is suddenly behind her as Setsuna takes up her own torch. Yuuichiro takes off, and Setsuna watches him go--and then suddenly notices... the presence of a Lera... behind her.

"...?" she says. "Lera..." Wide, unblinking eyes turn towards her girlfriend. "...Ghosts..."

Her eyes are bright as she says, "I'll protect you, Lera!"

She indeed prepares to lead the way. Though...


<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

In the Norimobile, before their arrival:

"Hiroko-san caught me on my way to archery practice," Fuu Hououji replies. Atypically, her clothes for today are lacking in hues of green; rather, she's decked out in a white blouse, a dark red skirt, and a more cheery - even Christmasy - red cardigan. "I'll admit, I'm not sure why she picked me out, unless somebody's going to bring some of those 'evil-destroying arrows' they use at New Year's ceremonies, but ... I couldn't exactly tell her 'no,' could I?"

Her luggage for the night appears entirely devoid of bows or arrows, just a small overnight bag, presumably packed as efficiently as she could manage - something to sleep in, a change of clothes, probably a power bank in case she needed to recharge any electronics which are also tucked into the bag. If someone actually *did* bring exorcism arrows, all the better, but she seems to have judged the odds slim enough not to risk her competition bow on a wild ghost chase. (Plus, as a few people would know, she *does* have another one ...)

She greets Yuuichiro with a smile and a polite bow when she meets him on the way in; she listens attentively in the living room as Hiroko explains the situation more thoroughly. She also takes in who else has come in response to Hiroko's request, as if weighing the odds and trying to figure out who's in the most danger if there turns out to really be something supernatural at large in the mansion.

"I'm curious how you know they were specifically ghasts," Fuu muses as they're picking out flashlights. "Aren't those usually European undead? How would they have come to Japan? And what would they eat in a mansion like this, you'd expect them to gravitate towards an actual graveyard or something ... not that Japanese graveyards have many whole-if-decaying bodies."

She's bold enough, in any case, to stay pretty close to the front of the group - although she'll definitely let Yuuichiro take the lead, professional-to-be-priest-in-training that he is.


<Pose Tracker> Haruka Tenoh [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

"Hey, hey," Haruka Tenoh reasons with Fuu. "Foreigners are allowed to haunt our mansions, too. If their visa hadn't expired when they died, it's legal for them to have their afterlife here."

Haruka, in a brown leather jacket, deeply unbuttoned blue dress shirt (which somehow implies pecs rather than breasts?), and black jeans, is here in the flesh, taller and blonder than most non-foreigners. Perhaps it relates to her sympathies to their undead.

She regards Setsuna's protection of her girlfriend with approval. "Why don't you say things like that to me, Hououji?" she asks Fuu seriously, in that deep voice of hers.

Haruka is present because she has considered the idea that this might be a daimon, unlike her fellow blonde senshi. But it's just an idea, so far, and right now she seems as relaxed as could be, with a day bag slung rakishly across one shoulder as she waits with the others. She seems to view the event as a casual outing, though not so casual that she took the Ferrari. She's not about to have to sell a good car because there's a Victorian maiden screaming in the rearview.


<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

How DID Hiroko come to ask each of them for help?

Well, there was that meet between the swordfighting and fencing clubs... surely a great place to find ghost hunters.

And of course, visiting the archers of Infinity, who would surely be fearless warriors...

And, of course, there was that collision when she visited Juuban...

(Was it a literal collision? She'd never tell.)

Certainly, she went far and wide to ask for help. She has connections. They're made of money.

"That boy is a priest..?" Hiroko blinks, owlishly, at Usagi. "... I will place my trust in you. Everything... everything will be fine," she nods, to Lera, her hands tightening a little in her lap. She looks even more unnerved by the idea of what kinds of ghosts might be around, by Fuu's report. Decaying bodies...

"European ghosts, huh? I'm sure they scatter like any other ones." Yuuichiro, at least, has enough bravery to spare for the people in the back. "I feel like we should really give them a break," he reflects, lightly, to Haruka. "If they're dead, they have bigger problems than bureaucracy, right? All that aside... I've never heard of an embassy for foreign ghosts." He pauses, for a moment, as he considers. "Maybe that's an advanced lesson..."

Continuing on, he waves his flashlight -- it's a flashlight! Don't mind the translation! -- as he smiles to Nori. "Ahh, I've never done it for real before," he admits, a little sheepishly. "Rei-san thought I wasn't ready," here we elide the flashback to THAT shouting match, "but... how can I prove myself if I don't take a chance? I don't mind if I get hurt, so long as I can make a difference." He grins, to Setsuna, giving her a CERTIFIED SCRUFFY THUMBS-UP. "You make it sound so easy!" He says, thinking of her declaration of protection. "I'd better not slack off!"

He looks up at the opulent portraits on the wall, and remarks: "But, you know... it's funny I'd come to a place like this..." Yuuichiro shrugs, and laughs it off. "Hey, it's pretty funny we're all here, right? I never thought I'd see you ghost hunting without Rei-san, Usagi-san!"

The tax of wealth, of course, is in having a LONG and WIDE estate; some of the rooms off the hall have open doors, showcasing the rich furniture and fine wall-hangings on the other side, but it seems like there's always more hallway to venture through. This is its own sort of liminal space, the crossroads between living-spaces, a question of how MANY studies one house needs. Of course it would be here that the lights flicker, all a sudden -- here, they die. The offer of flashlights, it seems, was downright prescient. It becomes even more important a moment later...

... with a scream, from whence they came.

"That was Hiroko-san!" Yuuichiro says, alarmed, and turns to run back to the sitting room -- which tragically puts all those people who carefully put themselves at the back of the pack towards the front, instead. The journey is more dangerous, in the dark. Those corner-tables with their vases are all the more treacherous by torchlight. Hurrying back, it's not so long before they reach --

Hiroko has fainted on the ground, sprawled over her sitting-cushion. Above her, a thick mist, lit in the shadow; it roils, images resolving in the aether. Yuuichiro, ever-brave, strides forward in the dark. He grasps an ofuda -- a spell-tag. "Scatter, evil spirits!" He incants, as he throws it towards the fog. It stops, in the mirage, and the glimmering light fades into darkness. Or was anything there at all...?

"Eh?" Yuuichiro asks, looking back and forth, as if he hadn't quite planned this far ahead. "Did I banish them..?"

Here a scalding noise, like laughter forced through a steel press, as that mist flares up and rolls over everyone. Yuuichiro is, after all, a trainee; down he falls, in deep slumber, just the same as Hiroko.

And certainly, for a moment, sleep feels like it would be the best option, a deep somnolence fought off only by magic and experience. The dark is deeper, following that wash of glimmering mist. There are plenty of corners to hide in or halls to retreat into, where one might change one's outlook.

Because when that mist collects again, it's in the vague shape of a woman -- a woman with hair which billows like a snowy cloud around her, all wrapped in shining green-and-silver tinsel, claws where her hands should be. "CaROILER..!" She announces herself, slashing the air in two halves.

The pressure in the sitting room rises...!

COMBAT: Rei Hino transforms into Youma Form Caroiler!
COMBAT: Rei Hino has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 6 opponents!


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"R-Right behind you!" Lera says to Setsuna. With a twitch of her eyebrow, a little like she has just been called out. Technically, she was, only by herself.

Her eyes shift towards Fuu. She makes quite the face at the image of some sort of undead eating bodies and shivers, looking about like she is ready to bolt. She restrains herself from doing this, somehow.

"Y-Yeah, foreign ghosts are okay," she says. "I'm sure it'll be fine, y'know?"

Lera keeps moving -- hurrying along -- until she slows in the hallway, when she hears that scream. Yuuichiro turns and runs; Lera's eyes widen, and she tries to hurry too.

She doesn't move as fast, though. She sees where Hiroko has fallen with her flashlight; then, she looks up, and stares at where the mist is. Taking form, clearly not banished, and becoming a woman. A youma, she realizes. "S-Setuna, that's--"

It makes it easy to know what to do, at least. She holds her hand up -- and both of her Devices gleam in the light. "Soaring Sky, Broken Ground, set up!"

<Get set!> <Get set!>

Light flashes around around -- and when it fades, she stands there in her green coat, with a two-toned sword in one hand and clockwork shield in the other. She looks at Caroiler -- her brow furrows -- and then she shakes her head. "I-I don't think the scenery's right for that kinda song...!"

The shield flashes. A crackle of light that runs across the clockwork parts -- and then explodes off, as a bolt of green-gold light that shoots off towards the youma.

COMBAT: Lera Camry transforms into Barrier Jacket Dynamic!
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Fault Siege on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino partially dodges 3 Fatigue damage from Lera Camry's Fault Siege, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Lera Camry is Psyched!  Rei Hino's Fade and Flash abilities activate!


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Setsuna puffs up a little bit, straightening her shoulders and looking Very Serious. ...Not that she doesn't usually look kind of serious, but even so, protecting Lera is important, and Haruka's approval adds to her pride--she must!! And then there is the matter of the foreign ghosts, and...

"You know a lot about ghosts," she says to Fuu thoughtfully. And then she moves along with the others--but--

"But if the ghost is causing problems, we should tell it so. Maybe it doesn't know," Setsuna says. "Or maybe it does..." That would be a problem. Bad ghosts are bad! "But I think there's probably a ghost bureaucracy too... Someone has to keep track of all the ghosts."

Ghosts ghosts ghosts--unitil the lights flicker. And a scream. Setsuna hurries, too. "Oh--"

"Ah, are you..." He's asleep. The mist collects. The awful noises--Setsuna frowns. "A youma!" she answers Lera.

She pulls her Linkrun, and calls, "Akarun!"

"Pretty Cure!" A flash of red light, "Beat... Up!"

Her transformation is swift and dramatic, bringing Cure Passion to the fore as Lera swings her weapons. She dives straight forward towards the Carolier herself, diving down and then spinning upward with a series of fierce kicks!!

"I won't let you do as you like, ghost!"

COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi transforms into Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Rising Passion on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino perfectly counters 12 Fatigue damage from Cure Passion's Rising Passion, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  Rei Hino's Reverse and Tactician abilities activate!
COMBAT: Rei Hino's counterattack, Polterg's Eve, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cure Passion!


<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.


"He's... something like one?" Usagi answers, seeming mildly confused as to what his position actually is. "Either way - he's got this!"

Hopefully he's got this, because that would mean she won't have to do a thing, or go near the ghasts at all-!

Even if he's never done it for real before-! And even if Rei didn't think he was ready! Usagi definitely wasn't ready to do the things she's done the first time, but she did it-!

Usagi however is staring out like she regrets her life choices right now from her chair.

He's got this. He's got this. She hopes he's got this and that it's nothing like what Luna thought-!

Haruka's flippancy at Fuu's inquiry is comforting in a way. If Haruka isn't tense, then maybe there's nothing to worry about?

Either way she's out of her seat and Haruka might feel a dainty set of fingertips daring to catch hold of the leather of his left jacket, just above the elbow, like she dares not do much more.

"Ah... I just thought... since you're not... escorting anyone around today."

She demures, in a way that seems to contrast how she's the one who took her arm in the first place.

As they're led around by the flashlights, Usagi may be looking, but all of her looks are furtive, like there's a possibility she might open her eyes and see something really scary-! And then he addresses her: "P-Pretty funny-! Aha... Y-You're right... who'd have... who'd have thought? T-Though it's not like some test of courage where it's just... the two of us! Nori-chan and Secchan are... taking the lead-!"

And then the scream curdles her blood, and her arms wrap around Haruka's bicep as the tiny blonde presses the side of her face against it. "H-Hiroko-san!?" She bleats out, as they rush back towards the room.

And Yuuichirou...

"He's got this-!"

Usagi has never seen Rei-chan fail when doing this. Or at least if she does it did - something-!

However...

He falls asleep.

"... ... Y-Yuuichirou-! No no no-!" Usagi calls out aghast and terrified, and shaking her blond twintails in denial of the reality. Despite what she says, her primary concern is that her life - that of a cute girl who in no way wants to fight ghosts, is on the line. "I don't want to do it, but I have to-!"

Fumbling with her compact, she might just have used Haruka's broad back as cover for her transformation.

Moon Cosmic Power - Make Up!

It's not long after that Sailor Moon is crossing her arms in disapproval of the Youma.

"Hold it right there-! This is the season for gift giving and kisses under the mistletoe-! You shouldn't just haunt people because you missed your chance two months ago! Sailor-suited Pretty Soldier of Love and Justice: Sailor Moon-!"

Striking a fierce pose, she points at the Youma.

"In the name of the Moon - I will punish you-!"

Now then - in this wide angle shot of the room do you see Sailor Moon? No? She's right at the back... behind... literally everyone else.


COMBAT: Usagi Tsukino transforms into Sailor Moon!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used In The Name Of The Moon on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino cleanly braces 0 Fatigue damage from Sailor Moon's In The Name Of The Moon, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Sailor Moon is Psyched!  Rei Hino's Block and Parry abilities activate!  Cripple and Diversion applied to Rei Hino!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Hmmmmmmmm ... I suppose you have a point, Haruka-san," Fuu acknowledges her fellow blonde's logic, nodding in agreement. "Although that presupposes that there was a live foreign visitor recently enough for their untimely demise to leave a ghost, or ghast, or what-have-you."

And then Haruka goes from soundly logical to outright flirting, leaving Fuu flustered and scrambling, briefly, for a rejoinder, which keeps her from replying properly to Setsuna. "Wouldn't that be Michiru-san's job, or ... well, if you insist, I *will*, but it's not the same when you fish for it like that, is it -"

The scream from the sitting room is *almost* a relief. Fuu is happy to step aside so Yuuichiro can lead the way back, but follows along as quickly as her legs and the surrounding bodies will permit. By the time she reaches the room we started from and takes in the mist occupying the space between its walls, her flashlight is on and held in both hands, almost as if the beam of light were a lot more coherent and infinitely more capable of cleaving something.

Yuuichiro flings a talisman and calls an invocation. The mist pauses ... then intensifies to the sound of caroilous laughter, along with a wave of soporific force which staggers the archer ...

Right into Haruka, as luck would have it.

The impact jostles Fuu back to her senses, and she works to get her feet back under her center of gravity (preferably without stomping on any toes). "I'm sorry - are you all right?" she asks quickly, wincing at the cry of 'CaROILER!' slicing through the air.

She dropped her flashlight when she was staggered, but there are bigger concerns - like donning her glove-jewel and transforming into her Magic Knight form. If that short-lived whirlwind helps give Haruka some cover, all the better; if Haruka doesn't need it, that's fine as well. And as soon as the Wind Knight has finished transforming -

"WINDS OF ADMONISHMENT!!"

- there's *another* whirlwind, this one whipping the fog into a frenzy around Caroiler, and hopefully keeping the misty 'spirit' from dodging around.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Wind Knight!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 18 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji is Psyched!  Trap applied to Rei Hino!


<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

In the car:

"She's certainly been hunting for quite a crew... I begin to wonder what she may know," Nori muses to Fuu.

Here and now, though:

Nori blinks at Fuu as she shows some sort of diagnostic knowledge of -- "How did you...? You seem very familiar with the occult, if you know that much, Hououji," Nori says to her. "... Do they eat the dead? In that case, maybe..."

Nori looks towards Haruka. "Maybe they're hungry enough to not wait until we have passed on."

After this, Nori meets Yuuichiro's gaze as he speaks to her, smiles to her. "I think you'll be able to manage, if we truly do encounter a restless spirit... Yuuichiro-san." An immediate step up in familiarity!? How forward. Even so, they move along the estate hallway. "This must be from before the war," Nori muses aloud, before:

SOMEONE SCREAMS!

When they return - the banishment is inconclusive - and Nori Ankou quietly opens a window and climbs out of it, with a faint rustle of exterior bushes afterwards. Eerie lights gleam...

And the front door of the house swings open...

And the sitting room is approached with ominous steps...

And in the doorway, pale and limned with evocative inverted life, is the shape of la Sirene de Diamant, the Pharos at her waist gleaming with a light that never warms.

"Winter is cruel enough, even on the Kanto Plain, without your treachery," says la Sirene de Diamant. "You should have let yourself be banished... now! Return to your rest!" One hand thrust forwards with a splay of fingers (did she just wink at Sailor Moon? the fog being hit by a whirlwind makes it hard to tell) just in time for that shimmering light to fly out.

But will it collide with the tinsel!? La Sirene may have underestimated this shade... or, potentially, ghast.

COMBAT: Nori Ankou transforms into La Sirene de Diamant!
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant has used Carbonado Kaleidoscope on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 23 Fatigue damage from La Sirene de Diamant's Carbonado Kaleidoscope, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Rei Hino's Block and Parry abilities activate!  Stagger applied to Rei Hino!


<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.


Sailor Moon in turn, winks back at La Sirene. Her wink is way less subtle.


<Pose Tracker> Sailor Uranus [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Haruka quirks her lip when Nori speaks about hungry ghosts. "Don't look at me," she says amiably. She keeps that smile going as she looks back down to the flustered Fuu, giving her a friendly open ear for all the babbling she wishes to do.

Usagi is courageous enough to take her jacket. Just a pinch of leather, is all, but still, a high achievement. Haruka reconsiders Fuu's thoughts in light of it. "I guess it depends on how well you fish. I have a lot to learn about it, I see."

Looking down (and down more, given the height gap) at Usagi, Haruka greets her with a nod. "You thought you'd borrow my jacket?" she teases. She waits just long enough for Usagi to start to reply before she interrupts by pushing that arm through Usagi's instead, pulling her close. "As you wish, ohime-sama," Haruka says. She enjoys being able to call Usagi that in public; all it takes is a good excuse to pass it off on, and those are easy to come by when you are as gallant as Haruka. "Stay close, then. I'm mostly sure there are no cannibalistic ghasts here. But if I was one, I'd go for the girl who eats the most desserts, first."

But the happiness to be found in protecting a tiny twintail against shadows and cobwebs lasts so briefly. Haruka's blue eyes go sharp and serious as she follows, along with the others, towards the scream, and she watches Yuuchiro's efforts carefully. When the supernatural fatigue comes over them all, Haruka blinks it away forcefully, but it is enough to distract her, such that she only notices Fuu falling into her when they actually come into contact. She's forced to dip her knees and catch up Fuu beneath the shoulder, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Hououji, you're here," she says, a little too close to Fuu's face. "I knew you'd protect me..."

Separating from the other two blondes, both four-eyes and twin-tails alike, Haruka draws free her transformation pen, glaring at the ghost. Sailor Moon accuses Caroiler of missing her chance at Halloween, but Haruka, for her part, felt like she was having a perfect Halloween *until* Caroiler showed up. Golden energy courses down over her body as she ignites her henshin.

"Sailor Uranus!" she calls back, as if introducing herself in return. She swivels her arms artfully a few times as she transitions from the dance of her henshin to a harder, more martial combat stance. "I don't know if you're dead or not, but you will be."

COMBAT: Sailor Uranus has used Acts with Elegance on Sailor Uranus.
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus accepts Sailor Uranus's Acts with Elegance, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Empower and Surge applied to Sailor Uranus!


<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Hiroko may well have been in great danger, were it not for the quick response of her guardians. (Yuuichiro is... he's fine, down there. He's having a nap. It's fine. Don't worry about it so much, and don't worry about the way he seemed to recognise Nori, either.) Now, Caroiler has bigger fish to fry before she can get to that isolated little poet.

Lera gets all set-up with her Devices, and insults Caroiler's singing. That would be bad enough, if not for the crackling of energy along exquisite gears, leaping from those machinations into Caroiler's path. She dances backwards, one step and another, never quite reaching the ground -- the mist coils about her feet, leaving question as to whether she even has any, but it's only her hot-footing which leaves holes in the mist around her instead of the tinsel of her body. She swipes at the holes, quickly-quickly, covering up the evidence that she was lasered. It seems to bother her quite a bit!

Cure Passion, meanwhile, sets out to answer the eternal question: can you kick a ghost? I mean, I assume that's the eternal question. It probably keeps everyone up at night. But the mystery deepens when Passion spins upwards -- and phases -- right through Caroiler? More mist than monster, she drifts to the side, and cackles as she solidifies again: "Caroiler!"

But when she's bid to HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, of course, her head turns to behold one Sailor Moon. Anger crosses those too-sharp features, all angles and length; she snarls, and reveals a set of considerable teeth in her jaws. Do ghosts eat the dead? She's certainly equipped for the job.

This is the precise moment she is bowled over by a whirlwind.

GHOSTS: Strong versus kicking.
GHOSTS, ALSO: Weak versus wind?

Floating around in the mists, as it turns out, is a real problem when there's suddenly air currents to deal with. Caroiler grasps a sitting-couch with her claws, all sinking in, a POP of an elegant button, a RIP of red thread, and its insides spill into the outside. (It's full of stuffing.) This is where the kaleidoscopic light of the Pharos reaches her, and it refracts on that shimmering tinsel, lighting her up like the merriest of Christmas trees. She yowls, entirely unhappy about the whole situation. Lera and la Sirene prove quite conclusively that light does, indeed, hurt ghosts.

Haruka does not try to kick a ghost just yet, but that's just because her kneecapping comes in the form of a declaration, instead. (It seems that ghosts are also weak to speeches. Who even made a ghost weak to so many things?! Well, at least she hasn't drawn out anyone's Pure Heart -- whether she hasn't had the chance to, or whether she's part of someone else's plot, it's difficult to say.) Caroiler's eyes narrow, as she straightens, rising up against the dark of the room. "CAROILER!" She huffs, and this one might be translated, perhaps, to a need to get serious. But it seems she does have something else to say, reaching out with one of those claws: "All your regret..!"

Her hair shimmer-glimmers with that same light in the dark, as it rises and billows, mist pouring out throughout the sitting-room. Images of the recent past dance within them, but each event is tinged with a new anxiety. Some horrible thing which may have gone wrong -- or, indeed, which DID go wrong.

The worst part is how thick the fog becomes. It's hard to find anyone else, through the images of what has been.

Can you possibly have the confidence in yourselves to decide you did the right thing..? Do you have the humility to admit you may have faltered..? Can you reach out, through the fog, to find an outreached hand?

COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Poltinsel on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Poltinsel on Sailor Uranus.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Poltinsel on La Sirene de Diamant.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Poltinsel on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Poltinsel on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Poltinsel on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon braces 6 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Poltinsel, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Rei Hino is Psyched!  Sailor Moon's Parry ability activates!  Trap applied to Sailor Moon!
COMBAT: Lera Camry cleanly braces 11 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Poltinsel, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry's Block and Parry abilities activate!  Trap applied to Lera Camry!
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus braces 6 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Poltinsel, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Trap applied to Sailor Uranus!
COMBAT: Cure Passion fails to brace Rei Hino's Poltinsel, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  Trap applied to Cure Passion!
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant braces 7 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Poltinsel, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  La Sirene de Diamant's Block and Parry abilities activate!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji dodges 5 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Poltinsel, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji's Fade and Flash abilities activate!  Trap applied to Fuu Hououji!


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Wh--hey! That's not fair!" Lera calls after Caroiler, as she moves, and her shot blasts through mist instead. She does chance a quick glance at Hiroko, confirming she is okay, and then back at the youma. Passion is having similar trouble, too, she sees.

Her nose wrinkles -- and she brings up her clockwork shield. The barrier between the clockwork portions flash -- and there's images of the past dancing about. Lera sees a few images whisk by.

Dropping a tray in Infinity's cateria, to her embarrassment.

A low grade on a test, the paper crumpling in her hands.

Getting blasted through the sky by a beam of violet light, from a fight not so far back.

Her brow furrows -- and she looks around, at fog that is thick and blocks all from view. Her amber eyes look about -- but she can't see Cure Passion, nor Sailor Senshi; there's not even a glimpse of Nori or Fuu. She sucks in a breath. "It wasn't all that bad," she manages, her breath shaking, and then settling. She slides the shield to her forearm. "Sky?"

<I'm with you.>

"Let's see if we can cut through, y'know? And try to find them," she says. The sword ignites -- a brilliant plasma flame leaping off the sword -- and then she strikes down, trying to cleave through the mist.

And, hopefully, push it back with the heat. "HEY!" she calls out. "Is anyone else out there?!"

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Corona Crash on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to dodge Lera Camry's Corona Crash, taking 38 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Passion is not here to kill a ghost. She is mildly concerned that Uranus is. But the ghost is attacking and they have to defend, so talk of whether or not you can kill a ghost is a problem for the future's Setsuna. For now, she instead works on trying to kick her--and that... does not work. Passion leaps back to her feet again once it fails, and frowns, looking seriously at Carolier. A huff--and then, talk of regret--Passion braces herself, because her old regrets are many--

...But isn't she mostly at peace with those? No, it is the recent past that comes to mind. ...Did she do enough to help Lera, in all the awfulness with the copied Devices? Could she have done more? There's always more she could have done. She thinks about it, and there are more images, but that is the strongest, those terrible, difficult battles and the travels that came of them.

"...No," Passion answers, "I... I did my best."

The fog is thick.

"Even if I didn't always succeed..."

Passion reaches out--hearing Lera's voice, she thinks--

"And I still will--"

COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Finding Happiness on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 7 Fatigue damage from Cure Passion's Finding Happiness, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Rei Hino's Block and Parry abilities activate!


<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.


"Um-! That is-!" Usagi starts to respond fumblingly, but then Haruka pushes her arm through hers, and Usagi suddenly looks dumbfounded, then flushes bright red as she's called 'ohime-sama'. It feels good? It feels nice at least, to hear such titles from her lips.

"Thank you." She whispers back. Arm in arm, she takes the command to stay close, before the final joke that would usually cause her outrage, causes her to flutter her lashes, as she assumes... something differently, than what she might if Luna said it. "H-Hey... are you trying to say I'm especially sweet?" The thought makes her smile.

Trying not to read TOO far into Haruka's fliration with Fuu, she transforms.

-=-=-

Sailor Moon gets this nervous look as the 'Ghast' looks over her way. Then seems relieved as all the layers of protection between her and the Ghast keeps it from getting up in her business.

And then the fog is unleashed. And she starts waving her arm abruptly, putting a hand over her mouth as she uses her sacred moon scepter to try and clear the fog.

However... images fast overtake her.

-=-=-

"I know. I know-! I'm just worried though. The enemy... they're even coming after you while you sleep. And it might help for us to know what you're dealing with."

"Mmm..."

"Whatever it is... I want to help. That includes Hotaru-chan..."

"... You can't. You just can't."

"Chibi-Usa... I can try... we can try."

"Why would you ever think you could help me!? Just don't even bother-! I can handle it all on my own-!"

-=-=-

As if on script, the feelings of that encounter made her bleat out her simple response, the same as it was that time, "Chibi-Usa-!"

Fingertips reach out in the thick fog, then... her hand clinches down upon her scepter again. "I don't know what she's going through at all." She whispers to herself, "But... I still don't think wanting to help her is wrong."

Still though, she can't see anything in this fog-! And as oppressive as it is, it must be so much worse for everyone else. "Hello-? I know you're all out there... so..."

And so, she puts a hand up to her forehead, with a touch to the gem of her sacred tiara, it becomes a shining disk in her hand. "Moon Tiara-"

And... she flings it blindly into the fog. "-Boomerang!" And yet, it's shining arc may perhaps be anything but blind as it sweeps through the fog, cutting through it in an attempt to burn away its dark power... because... it imbued by a simple feeling.

She doesn't really want to feel alone in this fog right now. Thankfully, one of the earliest lessons she's learned is... she isn't.

Ever.


COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Sailor Uranus.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on La Sirene de Diamant.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lera Camry accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cleanse! All of Lera Camry's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cleanse! All of La Sirene de Diamant's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cleanse! All of Sailor Uranus's debuffs are cleared!


<Pose Tracker> La Sirene de Diamant [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

It screams its name and flails around. Shining tinsel, la Sirene thinks as her eyes narrow behind the paint upon her face, as the fog gathers... thickens...

And...

Memories flick through her mind.

Awkward moments.

Strange glances.

Momentary pauses. Hitches in conversation.

La Sirene thinks of words from Tsuru. From Mikoto Minagi. Mami Tomoe. Our own Yuuichiro, currently sprawled out. Mediocre test grades. Fatigue that she can't push through. Long pauses, sideways glances. Memory seems to fade, almost; or to lose its color, its savor.

Her heart beats a little faster. Something flows through her blood. A formless worry. Muscles in her chest tighten, subtly. Her body tenses, pulls in. Smaller. Just a little. She wants to - to - to reach out; but who is there? Who would take her hand, here? They might like to look at what she presents. Do they like to look at HER? To see her, to be with her, to speak with her? Is she...

A moonlight beam twinkles in the fog. No, not a beam; a tiara, a shining proof of something. Something greater. Someone out there who has been her friend, and believed in her, no matter how distant. Someone who may be bound to a star where la Sirene is not so fixed --

La Sirene's lips quiver in the fog as she struggles for breath - presses a hand to her forehead. She straightens up, as that twinkling tiara feels like it's cutting a string - one holding her up? Or no, one restraining her.

And la Sirene speaks:

"Creature!"

"How dare you! Is there not suffering enough without your cultivation? Do you think that your fog bank is enough to wreck our hearts?" she cries out, her voice tending to penetrate but here muffled despite her best efforts. Solution: get louder.

Something faintly goes thump, then rattles...

Then there is a sudden opening of an eye in the fog!

No, it's not an eye; the Brazen Pharos, held aloft with both hands (having been untied from its usual waisthigh perch) is shining in the fog! Tilting downwards slightly, the open eye is eerie but not hostile, the effect a sort of sorrow-limned sanpaku as it tilts downwards, the center of the 'beam' seeming to sweep, as if SEARCHING...

(La Sirene found a chair and is currently standing on it. So much for that upholstry-- though, of course, these things tend to take care of themselves...)

COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant has used Abyssal Vision on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace La Sirene de Diamant's Abyssal Vision, taking 22 Fatigue damage!  Blind and Tangle applied to Rei Hino!


<Pose Tracker> Sailor Uranus [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Haruka is surprised at Usagi's failure to get scared at the idea of being cannibalized for the subcutaneous ice cream she's surely composed of. For her to moon about it instead is not a misunderstanding in the least, but it is a fairly extremely choice of emphasis, and an unusual one. She looks down at the other blonde blankly for a moment, then laughs.

"That's what you are," she agrees. "Shortcake."

-=-=-

It's always been too easy to envision, but Uranus is not sure why she is envisioning it NOW. An Inner senshi, whose uniform shifts from blue to red to green to orange, lying prone and insensate. Neptune, with the fallen girl's heart, lifts her eyes in shock to meet Uranus's, and this time, instead of shaking her head, she nods.

You can't, Usagi begs. She's my best friend.

Uranus and Neptune have achieved so much since the world's second chance. So many hearts returned, so many dreams restored. Uranus tries to string together the incidents like a rosary, but she just can't. No matter how many they save, there will be a few that they kill. It WILL happen. The tolerance the Inners have, the increasing cameraderie over time, is an illusion.

And nothing Haruka has done protects her from that.

The fog is physically, mystically driven away from Uranus by the tiara of her princess, and Uranus lets out a gasp of anguish. The visions leave her... or their supernatural strength, does. She never needed a Christmas ghost to carry that fear around.

But she can clench her fists now, and her teeth. Lifting her head sharply, she locks her eyes on the ghost.

There is a natural human impulse to try something you just saw doesn't work. Your friend pushes the doorbell and it doesn't ring. Don't you want to push it, to the annoyance of your friend? This is how Uranus feels about kicking ghosts. For all the respect she has for Cure Passion--who kicks harder and better than a Pretty Cure?--she simply has to know for herself. Maybe Passion didn't kick it right.

"I don't appreciate that trick," she tells Carolier. "If it was just on me, that would be one thing, but you..."

Charging, Uranus kicks off the aged boards of the mansion floor and swings her knee at the tinselly head of the spirit.

COMBAT: Sailor Uranus has used Don't Get In My Way on Rei Hino.
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 16 Fatigue damage from Sailor Uranus's Don't Get In My Way, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Rei Hino is Quipped!  Rei Hino's Block and Parry abilities activate!  Stagger and Tangle applied to Rei Hino!


<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

That fight... did Lera do enough..? All those gnawing little doubts -- she carves through them. Corona Crash is her retort, asserting reality; that plasma is hot enough to sear the mist itself, burning it away like so many spidery silk-threads, and it carves through as easily as a sword through a web. With a wail, it is at once clear that Soaring Sky hit its mark -- and that Caroiler is a warped reflection of the past. "Caroiler...!!"

Because it IS warped. It takes recognition to stand against it, to reach through the fog, but Cure Passion believes in herself. She's doing her best, and she's not here to kill a ghost, and -- and there's Lera, resolving in the foglight.

The sound of that heat hitting its mark may well serve to guide the Wind Knight's own blade, through the fog -- carving upwards, there's a "CAH!", which might be half of a caroiler, all cut off by the stabbing. They're stronger together, and together, the Wind Knight and Lera score strikes on Caroiler to stop her from redoubling her savage mists. What she's spread can't carve through Cure Passion's resolve, and it's vexing.

"Caroiler!" Roils Caroiler, as that section of fog begins to clear. Her problem, outside of those assaults on her person, is a boomerang tiara -- flung by someone who wants to help, who HAS help. Look, through the roiling mists: there is a lighthouse, shining bright, Pharos on high. The light cuts through what fog remains, and Caroiler, still singed from Corona Crash, is illuminated in the dark.

The boomerang-tiara circles back around, and with that slicing motion, it's shining clear. It's not the past that needed defeating; it's the ghosts which haunt those memories.

Fog dismissed, Uranus has a clear shot.

Does Caroiler know the girls she's fighting? If she has any sense of them, she would know to fear Cure Passion's kicks above all. Or perhaps the light and heat has forced her into this world, to avoid being pushed to and fro by the winds. The fact of the matter is that she does not phase through Uranus when that Senshi kicks off the ground, flies through the air, bird-soarer; rather Uranus IMPACTS, all uppercase, and whatever a ghost's face is made of crunches. It's like a memory of marbles lost under the family car's tyres, cracked into sharp little pieces, never to roll again.

She reorganises her face as she lurches back, claws rubbing her cheeks.

"Caroiler!" She spits, clearly annoyed. "You've forgotten!"

This time, the mist rises up behind her, like a screen's projection. Perhaps it's because the events shown are known to everyone present, because they're as familiar as your homework. Teachers lecturing on the importance of final exams, a ticking clock, revision -- it's a school night, and you're off fighting monsters! In all those images she displays is woven the horrible feeling that you'll surely fail, focusing on something else as you are. Is it another trick..?

Forget the past -- present day, present time, there's still plenty to worry about.


COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Polta Claus on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Polta Claus on Sailor Uranus.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Polta Claus on La Sirene de Diamant.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Polta Claus on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Polta Claus on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Polta Claus on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lera Camry dodges 7 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Polta Claus, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Rei Hino is Psyched!  Lera Camry's Fade and Flash abilities activate!
COMBAT: Lera Camry has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon perfectly dodges 13 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Polta Claus, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Sailor Moon's Fade and Flash abilities activate!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: Cure Passion partially dodges 3 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Polta Claus, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cure Passion's Fade and Flash abilities activate!  Cripple applied to Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Cure Passion has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant fails to dodge Rei Hino's Polta Claus, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Cripple applied to La Sirene de Diamant!
COMBAT: La Sirene de Diamant has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus partially dodges 2 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Polta Claus, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Sailor Uranus's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Sailor Uranus has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji braces 5 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's Polta Claus, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Fuu Hououji's Block and Parry abilities activate!  Cripple applied to Fuu Hououji!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: Lera Camry has saved her current combat state for later!
COMBAT: Rei Hino has saved her current combat state for later!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

TO BE CONTINUED...