☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

[interdimanagers]

Who: Everyone!
What: The tour hits Europa, and Edward Blanche plans a trap.
When: May 25th - June 17th, 2055
Where: Any of the potential tour stops, but mostly MOSCOW.
Warnings: Probably violence.

“Oh, will you break my fall When I climb too high? I always lose my nerve, It happens every time.” ☆LOVE AND TRUST After the disaster that was the beginning of the World Tour, things from there have proceeded innocently enough in comparison. Virgo ended up being able to pull its act into some semblance of order before the festival finished, and so the magic on their side was not entirely lost. Things are tense, however, for anybody who has an idea of the stuff going on upstairs. Whatever is going on, Pride is in the lead by a landslide, and the desperation is present in the managers and the execs alike. Lesedi, however, couldn’t be happier. In fact, she is getting cockier by the day. Her plans with Lapis went wonderfully, and wherever the gem is now is irrelevant. Barring any major disasters, she is increasingly certain of her defeat of Virgo, and is encouraging her elite members of take potshots at them any chance they get. (This includes her beginner music mages.) The beginning of the month is spent with both labels visiting a lot of very familiar locations across Americana - most of which are places they will have visited in the past. The routes are very similar to the ones the first bands took during their opening tours last summer. As for the rescuers, now is the time to regroup. It’s not practical to follow the musicians to ever stop they make, but Shep has apparently enabled his spaceship with a cloaking device, and will be taking all the rescuers and free musicians to the major tour centers of each continental tour - the headline festivals, each lasting for days, and each carrying an important role in the ongoing ritual. That’s what Silver thinks, at least. As some of the rescuers may now know, Gold has apparently gone solo. ☆EUROPA TOUR As the Americana portion of the tour comes to a close around the 25th of May, both labels will be finishing up in Britain and heading on into the conglomerate of Europa. All of these cities are basically what they are like IRL except about 50 years more future-like, and you have full creative liberty to make up some developments to the local culture and worldbuild because this is the last time these places will ever be mentioned meaningfully! THE OFFICIAL STOPS: Paris (May 30th - 31st), Berlin (June 1st - 2nd), Madrid (June 3rd - 6th), Istanbul (June 7th - 8th), Rome (June 9th - 10th), Vienna (June 11th - 12th) THE HEADLINER: Moscow (June 12th - 17th) The festival in Moscow is much like the festival in Vista City - a musical blowout to end all blow outs. The two labels festival grounds are practically blending together at this point, almost as if fighting for physical territory along with fighting for the attention of the crowds. The thick energy of magic follows the tour like a comet’s tail. ► RESCUER PROMPT: Instead of cutting through all of the earlier stops, Shep loads all the rescuers up into the now-cloaked spaceship and will bring them to Moscow, the last step in the Europa tour path and the place they’ll be stopping the longest. Silver has been saying that the lot of them should start working on freeing captives at all costs, especially now that the labels are on the road and increasingly disorganized. Shep has gotten together a bunch of new material for disguises as well as more holo projectors - a lot of them have been spotted at this point, but if they can get close to the musicians and catch the labels off guard it could be their best hope of bunging up the rituals for both of them. Meanwhile, Gold is obviously absent from the team, and some may have seen their former leader essentially announce their intent to leave during their fight with Lapis. Silver and Shep seem to have been avoiding talking about it, but occasionally it will be referenced in public places and the conversation will turn rapidly tense. ► MUSICIAN PROMPT: Everything is more or less business as normal, except for the pressure of the tour seems to be causing all the authority figures to lose their minds, especially in Virgo. Beyond that, though, it’s all deceptively the same. Both labels stop in the various cities and put on their best show, only stopping briefly to enjoy the local culture. Everyone is under very careful watch, however, no matter where they are. No one leaves the performance areas without an escort - it’s clear that both labels are desperate to hang on to musicians at this point. The gravity of the situation is increasingly obvious. Both labels have been booked into the same hotel this time, which is essentially a castle in Moscow. It’s every bit as lavish as you would expect, and it’s easy to get distracted from the stress with the luxuries that are offered at every turn. The consistent sense of desperation that Virgo has running through it at the moment is totally absent in Pride - Lesedi seems like she’s in an absolutely fantastic mood. ► FESTIVAL PROMPT: The festivals crowds are bigger than anything you’ve ever seen. Rescuers will easily be lost in a crowd, and musicians will be followed by a detour of body guards that honestly feel needed for reasons besides imprisonment. The stages are colourful and elaborate in set up. The musical event goes on for three full days, and most of everyone’s time will be spent backstage or in their hotels. Rescuers will have to do their best to keep up. ☆BLANCHE MAKES A MOVE In the wake of Virgo falling behind, Edward Blanche has come up with a magical scheme of his own. Using the soul crystal of pure love from Greg Universe and pure duty from Meril, he has been devising a ritual - and with any luck, it take out two birds with one stone. Greg and Meril, having mostly lost their real personalities after having parts of their souls torn out and crystalized, will be set up in a central location in the hotel, after the performances on the last night in Moscow. They’ll be set up to play music, and while that music is playing it will be reaching out to all of the rescuers, whether they can hear it or not. This music is going to trigger the love and duty within their own souls, and direct it to a particular cause - a sudden and desperate need to save their friends, family, or other sympathetic souls from the labels. And the need to do it tonight. This will hit them particularly hard if they are naturally of a love or duty alignment, but it will have an effect regardless. How much it gets them exactly is up to you. Virgo’s musicians will be protected very heavily during the ritual, as Blanche is expecting the attack. His hope is to lure rescuers in and kill or capture them, having the advantage of foresight. He’s also hoping that the rescuers will go after the less protected musicians of Pride and steal them away from Lesedi, who isn’t aware that this is happening. If things go well for Blanche, both the rescuers and Pride will take a major hit, all in one go. Why not let your enemies destroy each other? Player participation in this can go two ways: one is that your character can simply go after any of the musicians you choose, and you can work out between the players and the mod how well it goes. Alternatively, you can have your character go to the heart of the matter and try to take on Greg and Meril. The tricky part? Blanche is going to be overseeing the ritual as well. However, without the focuses of Greg and Meril’s soul crystals, the ritual will fail. Also, there will absolutely be a few opportunistic ghosts looking for the opportunity to give everyone a hand. Communication with the mod is key for this event! Please run by plans to have any musicians successfully escape by me before going through with it, and also do let me know if you’d like the ghosts to help out! This can absolutely be combined with other player plots, such as the Pride break out initiative that’s been floating around. The night of the ritual is June 17th, so take some time to plan things out, and then get threading. Let me know if you need help setting any scenes! “Oh will you bring me home When I'm barely alive? It's the state of love and trust, And this is for you, And this is for us.”

Comments

Ship B

[trustme]

"Oh! Ohhhh..." Usagi might not see it through her tears but Doctor came rushing up to her from across the room and just as soon as he reached her started flailing his arms, unsure whether or not she'd want him to touch her at all. Hug? No hug? Gosh he's really not the best person on the ship for this is he?

He taps her lightly on the shoulder and throws his hands back up towards his shoulders. "What's the matter? Are you alright?"

[[ooc: Does he know she's Sailor Moon or is she just the Flower Shop girl who turned out to be a rescuer?]]

[lightthedarkness]

((OOC: Rei revealed all the identities of the senshi to FoB at the Warehouse so he would know who she is out the gate.))

She panicked when she suddenly heard the Doctor yelling, only to realize it wasn't in pain but in concern. She quickly wiped at her eyes and sniffled, trying very hard to prevent even more negative impressions in front for Rei's family. She already messed up with Ivan and Pao-Lin, she didn't want the rest of Rei's family to hate her... hate her more, even.

It was hard, though, trying to recover after all her crying but she was doing an admirable job. She even managed a smile.

"I-I'm fine," she whispered, "Honestly. N-Nothing to worry about, Doctor."

[trustme]

"I wouldn't say it's nothing if you're crying. Do you need anything? Should I go fetch someone?" he asks. He can think of several dozen reason someone in her position might be upset. It's not easy being in any sort of war even if it's a secret one.

[lightthedarkness]

"It.... it's just because I miss- well I guess I miss my other space ladies, I miss my loved ones we left home to protect the planet while we were gone," she wiped at her eyes.

"But it's fine, I'm fine. I'm not hurt, don't worry, I can fight," which she could only assume was his concern for her at this point since she was sure he likely didn't like her now that his "son" and youngest "daughter" didn't like her. She was just some weird rescuer who came for Rei and happened to get the rest of them, what did it matter who she missed?

Alright, so she was feeling sorry for herself but she was allowed such a thing in the safety of the ship away from the battle.

[trustme]

Ivan and Pao-Lin weren't ones to gossip. Even if they were displeased with Sailor Moon's actions before she was precious to Rei. So Doctor has no idea what Usagi thinks he might think of her. To him she is one of the senshi who worked hard to help them escape and has some sort of close bond with Rei, though just like Rei herself, he doesn't fully understand it yet. That and she is still Serena Lapin from the flower shop to him, and he wouldn't turn a cold shoulder to that nice young lady if he saw her crying.

"Homesickness." He nods his head. Understandable. He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and offers it to her. "Don't be embarrassed. You've been in Vista city for a long time now. The only reason we're not all homesick is because some of us don't remember just yet," he jokes.

[lightthedarkness]

Nothing good, honestly. She can have a hilariously low opinion of herself if allowed to wallow in her doubts, which she has been allowed when it comes to Rei. She takes the handkerchief and wiped her eyes, sniffling.

She opened her mouth to say something about it not just being that they don't remember, but that she's scared the very person she came for won't even want to go with her. Rei is so distant from her now and she? She's terrified how little she actually means to Rei because the whole reason she even came?

She let out a breath, looking away and feeling so ashamed of herself.

But she closed her mouth and swallowed, unable to tell her fears to anyone but Minako. How could she say such a thing to Rei's pseudo-father? How could she ask him to understand how selfish she was being?

If he knew what she was thinking, he wouldn't think her so worthy of sympathy. She felt horrible for what she felt, she felt horrible for always unloading her worries on Minako, she felt horrible for being unable to find a better hiding place.

"I'm so sorry," she hiccuped. "If I could, I'd fix it but... but I don't even know who wants it fixed."

[trustme]

"The mind is a complicated thing. Mine isn't even human as Vastra has just recently confirmed. I don't think what the labels did to us can be cured in one sitting or even ten. Nobody's disappointed in what you can or can't heal." He takes a deep breath. Why is Usagi taking so much responsibility? She wasn't the one who caused this. What can he say?

"We all want to remember- Rei and the others in our little group I mean- we're on our way there. A lot of the healing and remembering we've done has come on its own, and that makes me believe that as long as something deep inside of us wants to remember who we really are it will happen. It's alright that it can't be done all at once. Besides it's easier to process bit by bit. Can you imagine 900 years of information flooding a head all at once? That'd be a terrible headache."

[lightthedarkness]

Why yes, yes she can, actually. She wiped her eyes again and sniffled. She knew exactly what getting slammed with that much information and memories felt like.

She opened her mouth, asking if wanting to remember meant also wanting to return to where you were all from... and whether that return would be enough alone.

But she closed her mouth, her shoulders slumped. It was just as well the Doctor couldn't read her mind since her mind kept accusing this man of trying to take her Rei away.

"And when it all comes back... what do you think you'll do?" she asked instead, deciding that was a safe enough question.

[trustme]

"I'm not one hundred percent sure since I'll only know all the promises and appointments I have when I have all my memories. If I remember something real important I guess I'll start there." He rubs his chin. It's a good question what he'll do.

"I have a ship that can go anywhere in space and time. That's a lot of options." He clasps his hands. What an exciting and overwhelming thought. "Visit my friends and go on an adventure or two. I think that's where I'll end up."

[lightthedarkness]

She wanted to ask, what about the family you built here, but she closed her eyes. She couldn't ask because she had a feeling she already knew the answer. And the Doctor probably thought he had as much right to take Rei from her as Usagi thought she had a right to take Rei home.

... If Rei even wanted to go home.

"Sounds nice," she smiled. She wished there was a way she could keep in touch with the friends she had made outside, but there was keeping in touch and just taking them or being with them forever.

"Might be nice to go on an adventure where no one got hurt," Rei would probably want to go on such a thing, and who could blame her?

[trustme]

"That's the idea." He has perfectly safe adventures... sometimes. The rate of danger isn't intentionally high.

"Perhaps I could visit your planet?" he suggests. Maybe some talk about her home will help her get that homesickness off her chest.

[lightthedarkness]

"I know Ami-chan would love to meet you," she said, not wanting to think about how he'd take Rei from her. She swallowed. "She's the smartest person ever, she's the senshi of wisdom," since the Doctor already knew who she was.

"I don't know how Pluto would feel, though, she's the guardian of time where we're from."

[trustme]

"Is Pluto used to dealing with time travelers?" The golden question.

[lightthedarkness]

"Well, no, time travel is basically impossible for others and forbidden for those who can. Mostly everyone who travels through time in our universe is trying to destroy the Earth or kill us in some form or another. Pluto has not yet been proven wrong. I mean, think about Lesedi and Santiago who did the same thing by taking Rei, a guardian of Earth and the Solar System."

[trustme]

"It sounds like Pluto would need a warning before I pop in. Though if I crossed the wires right I think I could stick to crossing dimensions to reach your universe and hold off on any time travel for the time I'm there. When in Rome as they say!" He gestures with his hands then starts wringing them.

"I've run into more than my fair share of people who abuse time travel and want to destroy or claim entire galaxies. Your solar system is lucky to have such powerful guardians to protect it." He nods his head. "I'm only sorry you've encountered nothing but ill intended time travelers up until now."

[lightthedarkness]

"Well, she might be more interested in your ability to travel through time," she smiled. "But yeah, we can definitely give her a warning wh-when you come," she swallowed. It was the only time she might see Rei.

She smiled and nodded.

"Every planet in our galaxy has a sailor guardian to protect it, even lost and lonely planets, even moons," she smiled. "Though sometimes, the ones given the crystal cannot transform, they are nonetheless able to protect their home. But some people can go their whole lives never needing to use their crystals." She gave a small frown. "Some planets have no need for guardians, some have need for more than one."