Sidestory:
In The Midnight Hour

The air was stagnant. Night billowed out in a warm, humid fog throughout the area. It was kind of rare weather for this particular season, but not in these parts. Late autumn; and rain was high on the forecast.

Staring out from her window at the International School's dormitories, a girl could be seen shedding small streams from her eyes without displaying any other acts of vulnerability to the audience behind her. The girl... no, woman… tilted her head downward and sat for a few more moments alone, in refuge.

"Rhiannon, is everything all right? You're awfully quiet over there," spoke a familiar voice of reason.

From the window, Rhiannon turned, facing the previous speaker. "Yes, Medea. Everything is... wonderfully fine," the girl stated, unassuringly. She outstretched her arm and caressed Medea's fur, drying off her own face with the other hand.

The fox was not fooled by any means, but she knew when to let well enough alone.

"After all, I almost died tonight," Rhiannon sighed.

The fox leaned up against her friend, attempting to comfort a broken soul, "I know, dear. I know. It'll be better in the morning." The room suddenly filled with a reflective air of silence.

A few moments passed, when a soft turn of the key disrupted the silence. "Oh, hi there, Rhia. And hello to you, too, Medea." The speaker, this time, was also a familiar voice of reason for Rhiannon, her best friend and roommate, Myra Koren. Myra was all but five feet and five inches in height. Not short, but not tall by any means compared to Rhiannon. Myra, much like many the students at ISAS, was from another country; she was from India and its beautiful city of Mysore. An exquisite person to know, there were also a few details some found shocking to know came natural to her: stark blonde hair, violet eyes, and overwhelming kindness. Though many people shunned her for these oddities, Rhia found the good and loved them to death. It's safe to say that the girls easily mixed well with each other. With the two of them together, things just seemed to get... better.

"Hey you. How did that study thing go?" Rhiannon asked in a casual tone, receiving a wide-eyed yawn as the answer. She then gazed back to the window. "Getting kind of late out."

"Yeah, it's nearing twelve," Myra yawned. "But I'm not tired a bit."

"Sure. That's plausible," smirked the highly relaxed fox from the bed top.

Myra glared slightly at Medea then soon gave up. "Well. I am tired, but I..." She paused.

"What, My?" inquired Rhiannon.

"I was just thinking about the other day. I mean, I have lived with you, slept in the same room, for a couple months now, and I had no idea that you were some superhero, nevertheless that your fox could speak."

Rhiannon smiled, "Or even that you were a 'superhero', as well?"

"Definitely not," Myra squeaked, as the thought seeped in further.  "Though, I...  I do want to know more about being a senshi. About being Orpheus. I want to know everything about what I am now. First hand."

Medea perked her ears up; "Surely you don't suggest patrolling at this hour? And on a school night?"

"I've done worse," Rhiannon stated.

"But we aren't getting into that, Rhia," the fox snidely dismissed. "What do you wish to know, my dear?"

"Everything," Myra softly demanded, "what good is it to sit here and be a senshi when there is so much burden placed on stillness?"

"You can't rush into things, Myra. They just have to sneak up on you. It's their nature," reassured the other girl.

"Then tell me everything, Rhiannon. Tell me about Hecate. Tell me how she thinks, how she moves, how she fights. Tell me how she works." So much excitement and inquiry rose from Myra's voice, something that was a rare occurrence, indeed. For once in her life, Myra yearned for something more than just to let life pass her by. She yearned for knowledge.

"Well, she's not much different from me, really," Rhiannon boasted, no longer upset about her fight with Gabriel earlier, of which Myra knew nothing. "Aside from the boost in strength, agility, and power. Oh, and her sluttiness. I mean, damn, she's really bad. Th--"

"Rhiannon, stick to helping the girl," Medea suggested, retiring for the night into her own soft, cushioned bed in the corner. "And try your dearest not to stray too much," the fox precognantly jested, before succumbing to her exhaustion and closing her silver-haired eyelids.

"Right… Well, as you know, I fancy her fuku dreadfully, and--"

"Rhiannon! Listen to me!" Medea reprimanded in a consistent drone, finally (and assuredly) drifting fast asleep. Myra chuckled a bit, then affixed herself back into an audience for Rhia.

"All right. Well, ask me a question or something. I really don't know where to start."

Myra positioned her hand over her jaw in thought, and then it came to her, "What does Hecate do? I mean, what are her superpowers?"

Rhia gave off a subtle snort, "Superpowers? Heh. I guess so. But we just call them 'powers' plain and simple... or 'attacks'." She paused to collect her thoughts, then continued, "I have two major weapons, my pentablade gauntlet and my athame. Each is very important to execute my attacks."

"Gauntlet? Athame? You get quite a few sharp objects, Rhia. That's really too dangerous for you..." Myra innocently ragged.

"Actually, it is," Rhiannon returned, lifting up her shirt a bit on the right side to reveal a long scar she had accidentally inflicted upon herself when battling the Astronomia her first time on patrol. "Pretty, huh?"

"Lovely," Myra cringed at the lasting impact one momentary incident can leave. "But I still want to know."

So Rhiannon proceeded, "As Hecate, I hold power over sorcery. And occasionally minor bloodshed in my own honour. It's not a pretty picture, but it never really is--" She paused. "For anyone," Rhia further added, now telling her tale in a more serious and direct tone. "With two words I can increase my speed and agility tremendously to deliver three clean blows, of my own measure, unto my foe." She stopped again, slowing her speech even more, in a bit of a momentary trance, "Stab... Stab... Slice..."

"How awful," Myra said, under her breath, assuming it inaudible in the silent room.

"It truly is," Rhiannon noted, surprising Myra with a reply and a lone tear stream. "My second attack, however, is not so personal-- but nevertheless effective, as Jace might say," she affirmed, wiping the wetness from her cheek, still speaking in a slow, reflective manner. "I call upon my sacred athame to deliver an eclipse over earth... but for one person alone. By thrusting the blade into the soil, I rupture blood vessels in their eyes and shield their vision with layer upon layer of crimson life. They are blind, blind for days on end, until the bleeding stops." Rhiannon's hands began to shake, as another solitary teardrop emerged, "I don't mean to hurt people. I just have to. I can't control what I am. I can't control what she's made me! None of us can."

Myra looked up into Rhiannon's eyes, "Then, what am I?"

With a force to her tone, Rhiannon assured, "You are Myra Koren. You are Sailor Orpheus."

Powerfully spoken, as if trying to reason with her, Myra questioned, "If fighting is so crucial to our existence, then why can't you just not use your powers, and only fight hand-to-hand... or with your weapons alone?"

"That'd be easy for some, but many senshi are weak without their powers. And others cannot use their weapons outside of them."

Myra looked up, confused at the last part, "Like… who?"

"Like me," Rhiannon confessed, nonchalantly, then continued with subtle emphasis. "Sure, I may have the gauntlet, but I'm left-handed. No range of motion over there without the boost. As for my athame, that damned dagger must be called upon, and, even then, no blood may ever touch its blade or it will relinquish its holy power and be lost to me forever." Rhiannon shivered a bit, then glanced over at the sleeping fox, "Or, at least, that's what she tells me."

"Wait a second. This is a bit much. You mean to tell me that not only do you have to watch out for yourselves in battle, but some of you have to keep an eye on what objects are touching?" Myra seemed more confused and frightened than ever.

"If life is a lesson, then being a senshi is the ultimate test, continuing on until the day we die." Rhiannon could do nothing but shed tears at this point, not ever speaking her true feelings about this aloud to anyone. "It's something we have no control over that kills us. A plaguing virus to innocent people."

Myra sat over on the bed and placed her hand on Rhiannon's shoulder; "It can only kill us if we let it, right?" She tried to raise her friend's spirit, without bursting into tears herself, now aware of the damage merely discussing it could cause. "Rhia, not everyone will--"

"Will what?" she glanced over at Myra, "…die?" Rhia let out an intentional sigh. "Yes. They will. If not on earth, than in their hearts... when those they love fall before them."

"Is that it? Is that why you're crying? Are you afraid of losing us?" She moved her arm around Rhiannon's neck, giving a half embrace.

"You and Medea are my only family over here. I mean, I thought I could keep you safe… have a life outside of being a senshi, but then..."

"Then..." Myra now realized. A blank stare cascaded out from her eyes, as a wet, crystal glaze christened her cheek and slowly flooded onto her pale lips, "…I became one."

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