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 Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 4:55 pm
Soyala was not usually a pacer, but she had wiggled out of her pretty glowing necklace, left it in Murikabushi's hand, and taken to pacing back and forth on the picnic table while they waited for Ida. The Princess was supposed to come, and this was supposed to be her exit--and in truth, she knew that she had little to fear. She had left few signs of her change in feelings, had no plans to give the other side any particular information, and expected that while her absence might be noted, given that Guardian Cats were rare, if she was careful, she might fly under the radar just so.
And yet. As they waited for the Princess, she felt...anxiety. Strange, for her. She rarely felt unsure. But it had become a companion.
Still, she did not pester Murikabushi with questions about his friend's arrival. He wouldn't know any better than she would.
Instead, little cat paws pattered around on the table, and she waited.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2025 8:11 pm
Purifying was rarely going to be an easy process for anyone, Murikabushi thought. Not that he could speak for absolutely everyone, nor present himself as any kind of authority on the subject outside of his own experiences, but there was always so much bound up in the question of purification. Always so much that someone stood to lose, or that stood to put them at risk of retribution from the other side. As far as he knew, Muri himself had largely only avoided anything loosely consequences-flavored because he made a point of staying on good terms with the Court as much as possible, he had largely avoided Jet until the dust-up with Cantankerous Harold (at which point there had been distinctly bigger things to worry about than Jet hypothetically being mad at him for doing what he’d needed to do for himself), and Faustite (probably) wanted to ******** him.
Or had (probably) wanted to ******** him, anyway. No telling where Faustite’s desire would stand whenever Muri pinned the little nightmare down for long enough to break up with him, even though they’d only gone on the one date and had never been anything official to each other. And the first priority whenever that happened was getting Faustite reunited with his actual husbands, rather than Murikabushi dumping him. Or, more likely, catching up on a lot of drama that Murikabushi had mercifully missed out on at the time because he’d been busy getting back into drag shows around town, and spending time with Obaasan, and chilling with Elior and watching Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson be Weird about each other all over AMC’s Interview with the Vampire show. Having a ******** life, in so many words, something that he truly couldn’t recommend enough to so many of delightfully dysfunctional freaks of Destiny City who could’ve been doing so much better for themselves.
But at the moment, all of that was firmly Future Murikabushi’s problem to handle.
For now, it was easier—and better for Muri’s overall state of mind—for him to focus on Soya and her antsy little paces. As he watched her, Murikabushi kept a careful hold on the necklace that she had entrusted him with. He didn’t know offhand what role, if any, it would play in purifying her, or how this entire process worked for cats? But in case it proved to be important, he didn’t want to drop it, lose it, forget it, or anything like that. Hoping he could spread some of the same sense of care to Soya herself, he gave her a small, fond smile.
“It’s gonna be okay, himesama,” he promised her, holding out a hand for her so she could rub herself against it if that would help (but also keeping a respectful distance so Soyala could decide for herself what she wanted). “Ida said she’d be here as soon as she could, and she wouldn’t say that if she didn’t mean it.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2025 5:29 pm
The signature that approached as eternal level, and the woman who appeared matched the signature she gave off. She liked to think that there was a warmth to it for those who felt it, a small bit of welcome in the often cold streets of the city. Arriving as a Princess had been out of the question for more than one reason... Beyond the massive aura that form put out, making her a bright, shining target for Trouble, it felt... pretentious. Maybe even threatening, for someone who was trying to seek her help. Better, it all respects, to arrive as her usual, plain self. One transcended among countless other senshi. Not all that different from the man by the picnic table, keeping company with what looked like a cat, if you didn't know that sometimes cats could talk.
Behind her was the comforting presence of her partners, now practiced hands at this sort of thing. Kerberos and Illyria kept an eye out for unwanted visitors and that did a lot to help set up this new beginning to go off right.
A Guardian Cat.... Ida had never seen one purified before, though she had seen ones corrupted, tragically. That sense of getting one back on the Negaverse was high in her mind as she approached the pair at a walk, letting them get a good look at her as she moved. Muri would know her, if the cat didn't, and she trusted that there was no ambush laying in wait with him already there. Had she made that mistake once? Yes, but one time did not prove a rule.
"Muri!" She called as she lifted a hand to wave, light glowing softly in her palm.
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2025 10:41 am
As soon as a hand was offered to her, Soyala padded over and rubbed herself against it, letting out a purr that she hoped was reassuring for Murikabushi as much as it was for her. It did feel nice to let herself lean into his hand, and it did soothe some of her errant nerves.
"I am certain," she said. "Any friend of yours must be worth trusting."
Murikabushi was Hers, after all, and she had excellent judgement (mostly). Therefore, the same must be true of him. (Probably.)
And there was another aura, and a woman approaching and greeting Muripabushi, and--yes.
"Ah, you must be Princess Ida," she said. Matched the descriptions from the database, certainly. And she came with others--a smart woman. Soyala moved to the end of the table and extended a paw in a way that was almost like a handshake. "I am Soyala, and I require your assistance in leaving the Negaverse, as I'm sure Murikabusihi told you. You'll forgive me for not taking on my human form--it would draw too much attention in combination with your Princess from, I fear."
A deeply unfortunate issue. But for another time.
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2025 7:21 pm
While Murikabushi did see the logic of Ida showing up in her normal, more low-key Eternal form, as he peeped Kerberos and Illyria behind her, Muri had to wonder how necessary it really was. Maybe the Princess aura would be a bigger tell that something was going on? But three eternal Order auras plus two Mauvians, one of them Chaos for the time being? It had been the collection of White Moon auras that had led Muri to the apartment building where Heliodor had been held hostage last winter. Someone else could have noticed them gathering here and done some pretty simple logical math.
Whenever a bunch of aura signatures started gathering, whether Order or Negaverse, it stood to reason that some Shenanigans would probably soon follow. (Not that Murikabushi thought the Dark Mirror Court incapable of getting up to some schemes and nonsense, if they felt like it? They totally could………but they usually didn’t, and he felt that bore consideration when saying that they generally shied away from Shenanigans. Or at least they kept them confined to Mirrorspace. Or wherever Hybris was indulging himself tonight.)
On the plus, he couldn’t feel any other auras around them at the moment. While Soya and Ida introduced themselves, Murikabushi focused on his aura sense (just in case) and looked around the park for anything potentially amiss. Nothing stood out, not even the distant glow of a dumpster fire (oh, he really hoped Albite was actually moving past those and not going to do any of that again. Muri loved his friend, he really did, and no matter how much he personally needed to break up with Faustite, he couldn’t help empathizing with Albite’s plight, as a husband whose beloved spouse was in some kind of extremely complicated, messy Situation……but dumpster fires did seem like a bad way to handle them).
With a soft sigh, he looked up to Ida and gave her a smile. “Soya is the Mauvian who Awakened me when I first started,” he explained, his tone gentle and fond. “So, y’know……she wanted help, and of course I’m going to do what I can to help her, right?”
Next, he stood. “Up on your world again? Where it’s safer?” Maybe Murikabushi should’ve paused and considered the fact that he had done this enough times with Ida to know that the plan generally involved going to her home-world. But on the other hand, he was helping people get where they wanted to be—first Elsa, then Lionel after him, and now Soya—and personally, Muri felt like that was a good thing.
“I’d offer my world too, but you get special help from yours, right? And, uh……” His eyes strayed over to Kerberos and Illyria. “I’m pretty sure I could only take you and Soya with me? I’ve never tried to take more than two people before.”
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2025 6:19 am
Ida bent and reached to touch her fingers to the offered paw, acknowledging the greeting with a soft smile.
“I’m glad to meet you. Yes, I’m Ida. Muri did tell me and I understand. Things like this are… delicate, and it’s best to avoid attracting unwanted attention. I’ve seen enough of them go wrong.” She nodded as she straightened and this time offered her hand to Murikabushi, pausing to tilt her head in thought.
“Ida helps, but we don’t necessarily have to go there, especially since it’s one person and not two. The important thing is being somewhere safe where no one can interrupt and you can’t be summoned away, even by the Queen. Any place off world should be far enough. Kerberos and Illy can wait for us here, if we don’t take too long.” Her warm brown eye held the question as she turned to look a Muri, her hand still held out. “You’ll just have to help me afterwards, but I’ve also not seen Murikabushi before.”
While not the point of this outing, there was still the thrill of possibility that came with an invitation to another’s world, that private place that was only theirs.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2025 7:16 pm
Ah, good, this Princess knew to respect a Mauvian. Perhaps unsurprising, since it appeared she had one of her own.
"The Negaverse is vigilant for such things," she acknowledged. "But if we are on another world, we should be safe enough." And she did like to stretch her legs. And she did want to see Murikabushi. Something about going there felt....
It was hard to identify.
With a little huff, she hopped up onto Murikabushi's shoulders without so much as an invitation--by her count, the invitation was always open--and settled there like a comfortable, furry stole.
"I do hope it won't take long," she said. "I trust your expertise, Princess." Ida had clearly done this enoguh times to have a plan and an understanding. That was well enough.
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Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2025 12:08 pm
Getting Soya-hime balanced on his shoulders came to Murikabushi naturally, or at least it felt that way to him. His broad shoulders could make crafting his silhouette in drag A Whole Process, but they gave Soya plenty of room to perch as he took Ida’s hand. And they needed to move, yes, but it felt a little rude not to properly acknowledge the others who’d come with Ida. It could be quick.……
“We’ll see you two when we get back,” Murikabushi said, throwing a smile in Kerberos and Illyria’s direction. “Take care, okay?”
From there, getting himself, Ida, and Soyala to his home-world was a simple matter of clicking the little app button on his senshi-phone.
Same as always, the app brought them to the garden that Murikabushi knew well. Sprawling in the middle of an urban center, large enough to be one of the parks back in Destiny City, the garden seemed, in some ways, cleaner and more tamed than it had when Murikabushi had first come here with Fang. Murikabushi himself had worked with Yuki to tend some of the plants and the soil, trying to get them somewhat more balanced out. Cobblestone paths had progressively flattened through his visits, smoothing out the places where centuries of untended undergrowth had created unexpected bumps to trip a queen up.
Yet, the garden was lusher than it had been back then as well, when everything had been overgrown but only the black roses had blossomed. A mix of oak, ash, hawthorn, hornbeam, and maple trees bore no fruit as yet, but life and color had returned to their leaves. More flowers had emerged all over: pink rose mallows and buttery yellow daffodils stood opposite each other, flanking the path that moved toward the garden’s center. Red spider-lilies stood proud amongst the petals of soft purple crocuses, and violets, and dark, vibrantly columbines. One patch of grass beneath the garden’s tallest ash tree positively teemed with gilly-flowers.
The biggest change in everything bustled around the pair of humans and the Mauvian with them, not unaware of them but going about other business. Where nothing but memories haunted the cramped buildings and the avenues that spoked out from the city’s center, the life that had returned to Murikabushi buzzed throughout the garden. A pink-and-brown teacup pig laid on its side beneath some of the daffodils, audibly snoring (how such a little guy could make so much noise escaped Murikabushi, but good for him). Butterflies with vibrant violet, pink, and crimson wings flitted around the rose mallows, while lavender bumblebees and amethyst honeybees came and went from the different purple flowers.
“We’ll have to do a proper tour some other night, when there’s more time,” Murikabushi said with a smile, leading Soyala and Ida to the garden’s center. “There’s so much out in the city that I haven’t found yet, and I don’t know what might be outside the city, but I feel like there has to be something? Decadent nobles need their pleasure palaces and country estates, y’know, and Murikabushi-That-Was definitely had those. They had a whole revolution about it and everything.”
Despite his eager chattering about his world, something about Murikabushi’s tone still managed to say It might not be for everyone, but it’s mine, and I love it.
That eagerness only dimmed a bit when they reached the center, where the massive fountain stood with the massive bronze statue of Airan in his own full eternal senshi get-up, which looked so similar to Muri’s own. Murikabushi flushed slightly pink, being in its presence, but nevertheless, made his way for a clear patch of grass where they could sit comfortably.
“People built that statue after the revolution,” he said, being very careful as he sat, trying not to unsettle Soya-hime any. “But that’s a story for another time, probably.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2025 5:25 pm
The rushing sensation of movement was as familiar as driving her own car by now, though the view that greeted her this time was almost disconcerting for how different it was from what she normally found. Still, there were similarities... flowers grew riot here as they did on Ida, if in a slightly different color palette.
Ida's eyes swept the buildings around them with avid curiosity that was only interrupted by Muri moving on without her, forcing the eternal to pick up her feet to follow. She was careful about where she put her boots as they walked towards the center, busy trying not to step on the flowers while also casting glances all about her. She could name so many of these plants... or whatever plant these resembled from Earth. She'd have to ask Muri sometime how many of them shared an ancestor with Earth plants and how many were purely products of this world... and a tiny pig? That nearly stopped her in her tracks, itching to crouch down near it and maybe, if she was very careful, reach out to touch it....
But Muri was at the fountain and there was no time to stop right now. She had work to take care of first, and she was never one to shirk, especially when that work was as important as this.
As the slender woman approached the fountain, she let the magic in her loose and felt the warmth of her asteroid surge up inside of her, filling her with the inner sunlight of home. Petals fell in a cascade around her, forming into the shapes of drapes of clothing, sweeps of feathers, before solidifying into the long purple dress and soft white wings of her princess form. It felt different, taking it here versus on Ida, or even Earth... One came with a rush of power and connection, while the other held overtones of danger... but here, they were safe, if disconnected.
"Its beautiful here... I should have asked you to bring me sooner. It never feels like there is enough time in the day though." She said with a sigh as she folded her legs and let herself down to kneel in the grass, her bare feet tucked under herself beneath the swathes of her gown. Jewelry jingled softly around her wrists as she held her arms out to the small cat on Muri's shoulders, the comforting smell of flowers surrounding her.
"Come here, Soyala." Ida said gently, the symbol of an orchid glowing softly in one palm. "One of us can hold you, or you can sit between us, whatever is comfortable. We should get started."
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2025 5:47 pm
Murikabushi was incredible.
Soyala's one and only experience with space had been the strange in-between void where they fought the Calamitous Hollow, so recently. It had not been a positive introduction; she had spent the fight weaving and striking where she could, and had little time to consider any potential wonder.
Not that there could have been any. Not like this.
Flowers. Bees, in colors impossible on Earth. A tiny teacup pig, snoozing among the blossoms.
What a place. No wonder Senshi loved their worlds so much, if this was what they could be.
"There will be much time later, as you said, and you will bring me back and show me as much as you can. What a remarkable place."
Once they were settle,d she leapt from Murikabushi's shoulders with as much grace as she could muster, landing between the two Senshi. The Princess was quite impressive--as expected, for a Senshi at the peak of their power--and to Soyala's eye, she seemed well prepared.
Soyala padded closer and sat in front of her, tail swishing in the grass.
"Let's begin, then," she said. "Even less need to dally, now that we're well and safe."
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2025 9:53 am
The process was a familiar one by now. Soyala sat in front of her on the ground, and as much as Ida wanted to pick her up and cradle her, she left her the dignity of her choice to sit where she had chosen.
Hands cupped before her, Ida called up her magic and her crystal formed above her palms, sparkling with purple light. It still amazed her, every time she called it, that such a thing was hers... but she pushed those thoughts side she held it out to the Mauvian and let herself dive down into the magic, her focus narrowing down to the being before her and the flow of power inside of her.
It poured through her as Ida opened herself to it, feeling it well up and run tingling down her arms into her hands and the crystal she held. She let it gather and then released it in a rush, letting it pour from her into Soyala in a rush of warmth and purifying light. It flowed like a river of sunlight, swallowing up the small figure and seeping into her form. Ida kept a firm hand on it, directing that flow and seeking out every lingering trace of chaos that lurked inside of her. She burned it out with a firm and careful hand, tenacious to find every last bit of it... until there was nothing left, but light and a new source of power that did not come from Ida or Metallia.
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2025 2:08 pm
Soyala took a deep breath. She did not expect this to be easy--she expected it to hurt. Chaos took its hold on a heart so solidly, chasing it away was not an easy task. But she did not wish to alarm either Ida or Murikabushi, and so she resolved not to let it show, to whatever degree she could manage.
She squeezed her eyes shut, as the light poured through her. But with the pain, there came something else--a feeling, once it was over, of lightness. Of freedom.
And there was something new, already visible. On her forehead was no longer a star, but a very familiar symbol--one that matched the brooch of the Senshi behind her.
"Oh. That feels.....very nice," she said, and she let her legs go out from under her to lay in the grass. That was also very nice. And she was definitely doing it on purpose and not because she felt measurably tired after her experience.
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