|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2026 2:12 pm
Chariklo was feeling… well? Not conflicted, not guilty, but she was feeling something as she stumbled across what was clearly a transport mirror deep within the park. Now, she could have kept walking. She almost did. But the memory of seeing Remarque amidst the throng that had all come together to fight the Hallow stopped her. He’d come to help fight and brought as many of the Court as he’d been able. He hadn’t just hunkered down in Mirrorspace to hope that pocket dimensions were un-eatable by giant ******** snakes.
He’d been her friend once. Her Prince.
She didn’t hate him by any means and part of her hoped that the feeling was mutual. But she also knew Remarque was a canny leader. Just what, if anything, had he told the Court when she’d scarpered? For that matter what would Amytis and Avacyn have told them? “Well, probably that you were a filthy traitor and a liar,” she muttered to herself. Certainly Mintaka had made her own feelings known that one night. But how much of that vitriol had been seeded by the Court’s own Prince? Unfair, she told herself. Mintaka had found out before Remarque, so any venom spitting would have gone the other way ‘round. Remarque had only been shocked by her defection. He hadn’t gotten mean or nasty. Unlike some. Allowing herself to wander through her memories, Chariklo reached out to gently brush her fingertips against the mirror’s surface. Mirrors would never flare to life for her again and that was okay.
She wouldn’t have gone back if her life depended on it. She was who and what she’d always been meant to be now. But even that sure knowledge didn’t keep a tiny stab of sadness from her heart. She wouldn’t mind talking to Remarque again if she got a chance. So what would be the protocol here? Leave a sticky note on the mirror and hope it wasn’t treated as a declaration of war? Hang out and wait to see if anyone popped through who might be willing to take a message back? And if she did that, what would happen if her ex came tumbling through? Or Tantalus? She didn’t want to fight.
After a moment’s thought, she sighed and began climbing the tree that the mirror rested against. She would perch for an hour or two and see if anything happened. If no one came through, she’d come back another night and try again. Though she really hoped that she wouldn’t have to.
She’d never been good at waiting.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2026 10:11 am
For a long moment, the forest was still.
The mirror was out of place, too clean. Untarnished, unmarred, unscratched. It hadn’t been here for long. The grass beneath it was still green.
Chariklo’s luck, and patience, won out.
A face appeared in the mirror, a split second before an energy signature, and then a body.
Remarque swiped his wrists down the front of his uniform as he brushed himself off, making an obvious effort to protect his hands from the tiny glass shards that clung to him. He was covered in more of a fine, sparkling powder than he was anything substantial, and he didn’t look particularly pleased about it.
His expression changed instantly the second he picked up the senshi signature nearby.
He found her immediately and paused, squinting up at her in the branches.
“Chariklo. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Mirrospace’s white walls were blinding, no matter how many years you’d been traversing its halls. “You’re not out here looking for trouble, are you?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2026 9:26 am
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Chariklo thought, grinning. Not that she considered Remarque to be a devil. Waving cheerfully, she found herself laughing at his greeting and replied in a bright, joking tone. "Oh, always. But not the sort I imagine you're concerned about. You're looking good. How's things?"
It was, she had to admit, a lameass way of asking how he was doing, but it had been a long time she they'd actually spoken. She wasn't really sure how things stood or what was allowed anymore.
"Naturally you showed up just as I got comfy up here," she mock grumbled as she swung her legs over the branch and let herself drop back to earth, landing in a neat crouch. Straightening up, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and tilted her head as she took a good look at her former Prince.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2026 3:49 pm
"I think you're lucky I showed up at all," he laughed. It was easier to look at her when he didn't have to crane his neck to see her, but he still rolled his shoulders and massaged into one side of his neck.
"What were you doing by a mirror, waiting for someone to pop out?" She wasn't vain enough to need one around just for fun, which begged the question of how long she'd been waiting.
"Things must be boring in the White Moon."
Either very boring--or very interesting, if she was trying to connect with a Dark Mirror Senshi.
"As it is in Mirrorspace," he reassured. "Not bursting at the seams right now, and I haven't found any cataclysmic horrors trying to break through, either. All in all, I'd say it's well. You?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2026 6:36 pm
"Eh, I've been here ten minutes tops," she said, waving her hand dismissively, a glimpse of a thick, faintly illuminated scar showing against her exposed forearm. "Honestly, I just felt like wandering the park tonight and found the mirror." She paused, trying to figure out how to put feelings into words. Even after all this time, it wasn't her strongest suit. "I can't say I was feeling nostalgic exactly, but that's the closest word I got. I guess I just wanted to know where we stand. The Hallow's prison wasn't exactly the best place to play catch up and we left things off kind of strained the last time we saw each other."
Her expression showed every evidence of interest as he briefly recited the news. She might not be Dark Mirror anymore, but she still liked knowing that the people she'd once been so close to were doing well. Even so, she barked a laugh at his own question and shot him a droll look. "How personal are you comfortable with? Your answer kind of determines how much I tell."
What she meant was how friendly are you sincerely willing to be.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2026 5:55 am
Remarque’s eyes lingered on the scar, but he dragged his eyes to her face. “What, you think I’d hold a grudge?”
Yes, absolutely.
He laughed once, and his expression settled into something half-amused. “You get a pass. I’ll win you back one of these days.” No, he wasn’t trying. She left the court. He could have brought her back by force if it was that important to him.
It wasn’t.
There was value in keeping a good relationship with her, no matter what color she was wearing.
“I’m comfortable with however personal you want to be. Go wild, I doubt you can say anything too wild.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
