Empty your mind.
Be formless; shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Now, water can flow, or it can crash...
[Indie Saniwa (Touken Ranbu) / Asteroid Sailor Senshi (Sera Myu) OC. Written by Mop.]
“It’s a little painful, but more like pinching.” At least she closes readily enough; as soon as the sutures come in, it’s only a few seconds before the bleeding stops. “Don’t overdo it, if the skin is pale that’s too tight.”
“G-got it.”
Okay, breathe. So far, so good. Through the dermis, this is so gross, up and out, this is so gross, reload and again gross gross gross gods just make the three knots and be done with it.
“Aaaaaokay, lemme see! That doesn’t look pale, right? I don’t think it looks pale.”
“She brought symptomatic herbs? Hm. There should be one marked ‘topical’. It’s… Got its problems, and a little goes a long way. No more than a gram, but it should act as a local…”
Advice continued from there. Thankfully, Mercury’s walked enough people through various procedures that she, at least, remains calm throughout.
“O-okay... uhh... so how much is a gram? I don’t exactly have a scale on me--”
Well, it wasn’t a complete disaster. For all of her experience with what the human body can endure without dying (and even when it ventured into undeath), Hanabi needed a minute to stop shouting and keep stitching Haumea’s wound shut, as per Mercury’s instruction. Certainly, she could sew, but sewing clothes and sewing cuts were two different beasts entirely.
“Okay... how-how’re you doing? Okay? That looks okay, right?”
“Welcome~” Freia giggles as Hanabi keeps up her work. “Being a queen, now, I imagine she is a bit too busy to just have a little competitive pig-out, but if she ever has the time… Call me, I guess!”
“Ahhhh, hair tie…Give me a second, I need to fish in my gym pants.” She casually slips her hand through a tiny Corridor of Darkness, It’s a useful little trick, when you need things from your house.
“Are you trying to summon her? Tempting fate like that...titles mean nothing among other Worlds, I’m sure she’ll pop out of the woodwork if you... I dunno, say her name three times or something.”
Well, either she would, or Venus would. And either one was liable to have the munchies, for various reasons.
“Gym pants...?” That was definitely a Corridor, but so... small. Kind of cute. “...What else can you pull from that little thing?”
Mercury just sounds tired. “She did the thing, huh?”
“I did not!”
“Yes,” she groaned, watching the gel heal the scratches, “She did the thing.”
She knew this would be coming, but that didn’t mean either of them had to like it. At least she didn’t sound as tired as the last time they had to pay a visit to the doctor... that had to count for something.
“I need help with stitches, can you guide me through stitches? I’ve got gel, sutures, some thread, some old stuff-- like really old stuff--”
“Short, peppy, excitable, and she had a sweet tooth the size of a mountain. I only beat her by a few bowls, in the end. I think it was… 45 to 42, on the final count? It has been a while.” Freia carefully wiggles her head in Hanabi’s lap, making sure her hair stays loose for her to work with.
“Blehhhhhh, no. The only cute bug is my wife, and she is very special to me.” She pouts, puffing her cheeks. “…And I guess Jackie is, too, since she is our little princess bee. No other bugs.”
“Wow... sounds a lot like her, now. --Oh, thank you.”
“I’m telling you, you’re missing out, but fair’s fair I guess. Oh, do you have a hair tie on you? I’m almost done.”
“Most people didn’t. I’m cheating with the iodine.” She breathes, carefully. control. Control.
“...Clearly.”
Intensely grateful to be living in the present of 220 S.E., Hanabi decided to take her chances on opening the small jar and tilting just a bit of the gel onto some of Haumea’s shallower, clearly visible scratches. The gel should at least kill the bacteria in those, and the fewer problems, the better.
“Lemme see that thing for a moment, please...”
Hanabi reached for the medkit and flipped the lid of her communit, opening a channel with Mercury, back home. She prayed she wouldn’t be busy, this line was for emergencies or missions only. Hanabi had taken that much seriously, at least.
“Okay... sutures... thread-- what kinda thread is this? Ah-- Mercury? M-Mercury-sama? ...-san? ...Sailor Mercury? Oh man...”
“Not yet, but I’m having a rough time getting my Ripple together.” Might as well submit fully to examination. “– oh, right, I’m the only one attuned to this haversack, my bad–”
She holds up a hand. “Medkit, mystery dungeon–”
The kit leaps into her hands. It’s positively archaic, mostly composed of esoteric herbs, specific antidotes and symptomatics, a bottle of iodine of all things!?
Hanabi made a face, greatly concerned. Were any of those items still good? This sort of thing would have been fascinating, if it weren’t what she was expected to work with. It looked like something that belonged in a museum; she had to be kidding, right?
“...Yeah, I’m definitely calling Mercury for this, I don’t care what kind of earful we get. How did you even survive with that, before modern medicine?”
“Ahhh, Usagi~! I had an ice cream eating contest with her, one time! She was pretty good!” Freia nods, slowly, careful not to mess with Hanabi’s braiding work. “Quite the appetite. I hope she has kept herself in practice.”
She sticks her tongue out. “Bugs are wiggly and crawly and gross, and they have big creepy eyes and euuuuuugh.” Freia shudders, having grossed herself out.
“Woah, seriously? Uh, I don’t think being out of practice is a concern, if card night and the coronation were anything to go by. What was she like, back then?”
“Aww, you’re kidding!” she exclaimed, “That’s the best part! I happen to think they’re cool. Some of them are pretty cute, y’know.”
Oh! Hi, Auntie! Sorry I didn’t get to greet you, I’m a little-- occupied here--
(A tug-of-war for the eyeshadow has begun. Mina is helping herself to the carnage, Hanabi’s hairbrush grasped between her feet as she tries to brush her hooman’s hair.)
I guess this is my White Day gift, haha--
(Her laughter is cut short by another tug from Ein.)
(Arms crossed in her pyjamas and gods damn it, Ein’s destroyed her bathroom. What a White Day this is. What a Pi Day this is. The makeup bag, in tatters. Toiletries, scattered. Brushes, chewed. She points to the eyeshadow palette that one of his heads is holding in its mouth, just chewing on the cover.)
That is not yours. That... that is not yours. That is my makeup.
(Am prety. Want prety.)
(She reaches out to grab it, but he holds firm! She tugs just a little harder, the war has begun in earnest.)
It-- those colors don’t fit your complexion. That--
(WANT PRETY.)
No, give that back! Come on, give it back!
You don’t even wear this brand, it’s not your brand! You destroy my counter, you eat my brush, give me that back, please!
“There’s that, as far as the people are concerned. But… There’s also–”
A video from about a week ago. An attempted artillery bombardment of the Lesser Seals. Of course, it did jack-all, which is probably why they stopped. But boy if they didn’t give it the ol’ college try. “Near as I can figure, it’s some kind of army. But there was no standing army in Cairo during the Entente World War, so…”
Yikes. It was to be expected, of course, but still surprising.
“Maybe it’s just because Time’s my hat, now, but it sounds like divergent history, off the top of my head,” she mused. “Can you show me the time-lapse again? Do you recognize the uniforms some of them were wearing? Do they belong to any specific group?"
On the topic of the time-lapse, Hanabi checked her phone for the time, looking out the window and watching the landscape fly by. How long would it be until these strangers started showing up in Cairo? Would they have their first encounter before they got a chance to check in?
“Yeah. We haven’t wanted to step in because escalating seems like the wrong answer just now, but there’s been reports of extended questioning, occasionally at gunpoint. The advantage is– From what we’ve gathered, they definitely seem as confused as we are.”
"Huh... so they’re just as clueless. They haven’t hurt anyone yet, right? Just questioned?”
Hanabi looked up at the ceiling of the cabin, thinking. “So, how are we gonna approach this? Wait until night, when they start showing up, and try to blend in with them? ...Or at least, as much as we can? Jury’s still out on if they’re friend or foe, right?”
“Alright, I think we’ll call it, for today. Good work.”
Pluto’s Keyblade, the Garnet Gears, reverted back to the familiar keystaff, the Garnet Rod.
A small ways away on the floor, Starlight disappeared from Hanabi’s hand. She stood up with a groan, poking at the various bruises that littered her body. An attempt at rolling her shoulder didn’t work out very well, the movement cut short with sharply sucking in air through her teeth.
“Uuuugh... think you were right before, I think actually did something to it, this time. I’ll have to get that checked.”
“I told you it’d be a good idea to stop, earlier.”
“I’m not saying I regret it,” she protested, a breathless laugh. “Feels good, feels like progress! Am I getting any better?”
“Than the last couple of weeks? No. Overall, yes. You’re progressing at a steady clip. A trip to the infirmary and a good soak should fix that up.”
“Ahh, not after an ice bath. Contrast bathing’s not as effective.”
“Trust me on this,” she insisted, “I’ve had many injuries eased by water. It’s not as effective as an ice bath, but contrast bathing is still effective."
Approaching the window, Pluto gestured to the rain outside. “You sound like you miss the winter, already, and it’s just barely gone.”
“Don’t even joke about that.” Hanabi shuddered at the mention of winter. “Fiiine, I’ll do the contrast bath this time...”
Pluto smiled, a soft ‘hm’ escaping, and for a moment there was a content silence between them. Hanabi was the first to break it, thinking about something as she reached for a towel.
"...Hey, Boss? I know I’ve asked before, but it’s been a while. What does time travel feel like, to you? You seem almost scared of it, sometimes.”
Pluto paused, jogging her memory. It had been some time since they’d discussed matters like these; not since Hanabi had first started, after quite the rude Awakening.
“My answer hasn’t changed, but alright. I feel at home, in the Corridor. The turbulence of the Corridor means nothing to me. It obscures, it pushes out those who are unwanted, but I can navigate the storm with ease. But you must still respect it, as you would any force of nature.”
“I know,” she insisted, “I do. I’m not scared of it at all.”
“That much is obvious,” she laughed. “Trying to integrate a force of nature into a combat style takes quite a bit of... moxie, let’s call it. But let me remind you, there’s a clear difference between fearing something and respecting it.”
“Hey, I respect it! I really do. I have no idea how long I actually spent wandering around in it, I just know the clocks said the 24th when I found my way home. However long it was, it was still enough time to ah, ‘get to know’ the place, so to speak.
“But even so, I... I dunno how to describe it. I feel safe, in the Corridor now, compared to when I first started. I feel this energy, like being there charges me up-- or at least, it feels like it does. Doesn’t feel like a fate worse than death, getting lost in there. It’s like a bubble.”
“Perhaps that may be because of your bond with the Corridor. Just remember to exercise caution. The Corridor is a sacred, sublime place. The barest exposure to the Bulk between universes that we have observed yet.”
Hanabi gave a solemn nod, exaggerating her gestures as if it would convince Pluto that she meant business.
“...Hey, Boss? You said there’s a Tower in the Corridor, right? The Tower of Time? Where Apsu was defeated the first time?”
“Please tell me you’re not getting ideas in your head again...”
“I’m just saying, hear me out! These excursions and missions with Haumea, they’ve got me thinking, and I think it’s something to explore! That Tower means there might be other structures, right? How are there buildings within the Corridor? There have to have been people to build the Tower, right? Plus, the whole mentor-protege experience? You and me, exploring a half-sunken tower? You could... show me what it’s really like! Tell me about the place, about when you started your position under Queen Serenity when you were young.”
Pluto eyed her banged-up charge warily.
“...Please?”
“...I’ll give it some thought,” she sighed. “It might take me some time to clear a space in my schedule, though.”
Truth be told, it sounded like it could be a good experience for the both of them. The allure of getting to bond is too great to ignore. And if anything went wrong, she would be right there; it isn’t as if she asked to go alone. And she’d been performing well, in other trials... perhaps this could be considered a trial, as well.
“Yessssss! I promise, it’ll be great!”
“It’s not going to happen if you’re busy with affairs here.”
“Of course! Above all, the mission!”
“And certainly not in this condition.” Pluto gestured in Hanabi’s general direction.
“I’ll be ready for it!”
“Relax, or you’ll pull something else.” That enthusiasm really was infectious. From wanting nothing to do with her, to suggesting an equivalent to a field trip together... Pluto couldn’t help but smile.
“Her Majesty is the lady with spaghetti-styled hair, right? Two really long sidetails, and buns on her head?” Freia giggles, smirking up at Hanabi. Just casually making fun of the queen of the planet, she must be very comfortable. “You know, she seems kind of familiar. I am not sure if we have met, but I do not think I knew her, as a queen.”
Freia resumes purring softly, as Hanabi lets her pride show, a bit. That’s what she likes to see! “…Ah, Jackie, to my great discomfort, really likes bugs. I really should have expected it, since she is our little princess bee, but uuuuuuuuuuuuugh.” She sticks her tongue out. “Melissa is the one bug I am not absolutely terrified of, and she has to wear a special collar with bells and emeralds on it, so I recognize her…”
Hanabi blinked for a beat, and started laughing, herself.
“Don’t say that around her, but you’ve got it! You might know younger versions of her, maybe? If you’ve met someone going by the name Tsukino Usagi, that was her name before Establishment.”
She couldn’t help a wider grin, trying not to laugh again. She never saw how people could be so squeamish around bugs...
“Aww, how come? Bugs are cool, they get such a bad rep.”
Who knows what might happen once she got the point of asking him how he could pull off such incredible feats with Time itself. Perhaps he could weave that into his story down the line once the opportunity presents itself. But until then…
“…Hm.”
He visibly relaxed at her words, his shoulders sagging slightly as part of that process. A smile appeared on his features, Hanabi even being successful in pulling a chuckle or two from him with those last words.
“I’m glad. I’ve had others say that I shouldn’t keep dwelling on or beating myself up about things like this, but…when your memory is as sharp as mine, it can be a bit…difficult.”
DJ sighed softly as he glanced back at the mug for a moment. It was then that he realized that she was still standing in front of him from when she had rushed over to help him with the injuries that were no longer present.
“Ah, well… Please, sit back down. Luckily, we’re past the worst of it, and, if you want, I can continue and tell you the rest of the story.”
It showed in his demeanor and attitude as well. It seemed things could only go up from here on out…
Hanabi couldn’t help the great relief openly spreading across her features, seeing him relax, smile. Laugh, even. It set her at ease, seeing him come back to her.
“They’re right, but don’t beat yourself up for beating yourself up, either. It’s way too easy to go down that rabbit hole.”
She released his hand, sitting back down.
“Well, alright... if you’re sure you’re okay. We can stop at any time. So, what happened after it?”
