Deviation Actions
Description
This is both my 
Artifcacts and Answers piece Event: Artifacts and Answers but also the second part of my 31 Experiments Personal Challenge. This time, I experimented with the format. Long format is long. I really enjoyed it!
The google docs version: docs.google.com/document/d/1ye…
TLDR: Moni goes to Magellan Castle orbiting Venus looking for an artifact to bring back to the Lady. She find a locket, but has a flashback to the past on the way.
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The view was worth it. Moni stood in what she decided must be a tower, as the circular room was lined with floor to ceiling (which was at least a couple stories high) windows which afforded a 360-degree vantage. Magellan castle was locked in orbit far enough above Venus’s surface that none of the noxious atmosphere could touch it, and thus she could gaze upon both the strangely beautiful if deadly gasses below her and into the magnificence of space. She was nothing if not a scientist, and she was overwhelmed by the privilege of what she was observing, all the while analyzing exactly what she was seeing. The artist in her also provided her with the aesthetics to enjoy it further, noting the textures and subtle colors as they melded. She had so many racing thoughts; how in the world she was able to be here, in the orbit of Venus, closer to the sun and all its radiation, yet safe from the sulphuric nightmare below her, in a space castle built so many thousands of years also? She tried to turn the facts around in her head and rationalize it, but in the end she settled for the same explanation as to why the skin of her entire torso, neck, and parts of her face were now glittering metal scales; magic. Arthur C. Clarke’s third rule came to mind: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” She didn’t know if she could stretch it this far (and yeah it was a cliche), but her lips quirked in a wry smile when it nestled into her thoughts.
Moni scanned the dim room, checking for any hidey holes in the furniture in the middle, the shadows under the velvet-padded benches, or the ceiling itself, and she felt reasonably assured she was alone. She had a mission, but she also needed to remember this in case the chance never came again. The sunlight was bright, and reflected off the caramel and honey-colored clouds of the world before her. The “Planet of Love” was a sight to behold. The rocky surface itself was completely hidden beneath the super-rotating carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid clouds, and she knew that at the depth of the surface, the pressure was intense. For all that, Moni grinned like a child to be able to see it so close. She regretfully tore her gaze away after a couple minutes and walked across the observation room to the other side. She peered about holding her breath, seeking what she hoped was there. It would be sheer chance if everything were properly aligned. Yes! There, the two bright spots. She glanced down at the central stairs for a moment and then, in a whisper, addressed her Brooch.
“Dagger, please come in... quietly.” Moni was aware that there had been at least one Rifter here only yesterday when Bernie had visited, and she had required some medical attention afterwards. Perhaps Moni should not have come by herself, considering that she had been abducted earlier that winter when she had been on her own and also in light that it had taken both V and herself to handle the pale shark-eyed Rifter in Malaysia but, well, it was a bit complicated. She needed to recover the confidence that Zayn had stolen from her and she also wanted to be able to fight full strength without concern that she could harm others. Yes, she had used Leviathan Mode and not lashed out at V, but she wasn’t convinced that it didn’t have something to do with the ingrained trust Dorado had in Chameleon. She knew she had to get comfortable with fighting in a team though. She made a mental note to get to get into some more intense training with Lan, since they needed to learn how to become an effetcive fighting unit anyway. She smirked at the thought of teaming up to take down that stupid copy-cat Null togther.
“Lady Dorado, how may I assist?” The Cloaked World's AI responded to her address. She felt a little silly asking him to help her in this personal inquiry, but she knew that Dagger was as kindly disposed to her as he was able to be.
“Could you please confirm that I’m facing the general region of the planet Earth and the Moon?” She held her right hand out to touch the glass so it covered the bright points in the “sky”.
“I can confirm you are facing the Earth and the Moon.”
“Thank you, Dagger.” Moni’s eyes teared up a little, and she couldn’t find the shame to care. Yes, she had spent a week on Ceres, technically being the first of the modern Constellation Senshi in space (beyond the safety of the Cloaked World), but she had been in the bowels of the dwarf planet until the teams had raised her from perdition (pause to briefly fangirl over Castiel) and she was able to look up into the stars again. That had not felt like adventuring out into space, but this did. This was a moment that seemed possible to six year old Moni and then became silly to her as she aged and her world shrunk. Now, she appreciated the victory her elementary school self would have celebrated. She pressed the palms of her hands on either sides of the little points of light that represented the entire domain of modern humanity. She knew that even if she couldn’t see it, the Cloaked World was there too in the frame made by her tiny hands in their pure white gloves. The Lady, her friends and teammates, Catori and Darryl’s family, her baby sister and her fantastic aunts… all there on two tiny lights in the sky and one hidden one. “We’ll protect you, all of you. I’ll die before they can take you from me.” Her vow made, she dropped her hands and looked up and around one more time and chuckled quietly at how much such an infinitesimal spot in the universe so colossally huge she didn’t dare to say she truly understood its true size could be so precious and important. Well, better do her part today.
She carefully made her way down the spiral staircase, the low light in this area making her cautious of her step. A couple floors down, and she was in the castle proper. There was real lighting here, though she didn’t know if it had been lit before Bernie had been here or if her friend has figured out how to activate them when she came (or the Rifters, perhaps). She’d have to ask later. Everything was so opulent and ostentatious, it reminded her of photos of the Palace of Versailles if the gold factor had been turned up to eleven even on that scale and a team of magpies had been called in as the decorators. Someone had gone for drapery (with gold fringe, naturally) and crystal in a big way, too. She had told herself to look for an artifact that stood out but… geez Louise, her eyes could hardly settle on one thing for more than a few seconds in this place. There were countries with less gold than the rooms she had just walked through.
On top of everything, she was starting to feel off. Her mind was prickling; not from danger, but it was the same feeling she got often on the Cloaked World; She had been here before. “She” being Jia. Of course she would have been, so would have many of the Constellations that came before them. With such wealth on display, they had been a major partner economically to the Moon, Earth, and of course supported the Constellations in War. Moni had read all that in the CW’s library but this feeling wasn’t just knowledge gleaned from a book. She knew she was going to have another flashback, and she didn’t want to get caught in the open as she stared into space if there were still Rifters about. She found a large white and gold door bearing the Venusian (or would it be Venerean?) coat-of-arms and ducked inside, closing it silently behind her.
It was a humongous ballroom, even bigger than the one on the Cloaked World. Gilded mirrors reflected the warm light several times over, and the paintings of the ceilings were nothing short of epic. She knew if she had been able to bring her old art history professor here, she would have wept upon viewing it. Moni herself felt dizzy and sat hard on the inlaid marble floor. Her scales caused light spots to dance across the pinkish veins in the stone as a memory that didn’t belong to her surfaced.
The music was refined yet lively, and the ballroom was filled to capacity with both the aristocracy of Venus and foreign dignitaries. Laughter and merriment was everywhere as the revelers rejoiced in the inner Solar System being declared free. Jia was of course pleased at the accomplishment of her fellow warriors and the soldiers of the inner worlds, but she was uncomfortable here in the midst of their celebrations. Even raised as royalty and attending balls and other shows of wealth and power from a young age, she never enjoyed them. She found herself pasting on yet another convincingly serene smile and nodding at another insipid quip by a very well dressed and attractive man whom she wished would go focus on some other woman. Or himself, for all she cared. Outwardly, she kept her face still and attentive, but inside she was thinking of all the things she could be getting done if she weren’t here. She reminded herself sternly that she and Kalli were here to represent the Lady of the Star since she could not leave the Cloaked World. Speaking of Kalli, she realized she hadn’t seen him in a bit and searched the room for him. She found him a little ways off, and he didn’t look his normal confident self. She excused herself and went to join him.
She placed an arm on one of his bracers gently and gave her friend and ally a quizzical look. “Please excuse the intrusion into your thoughts, but what’s troubling you?” She could see him start to shrug her question off and formulate a way to deflect it, so she gave him one of her Stern Looks that was meant to remind him that she was well trained to read expressions and detect lies.
Kalli’s hand darted out to grab a couple drinks as a server passed by them, handing his companion one. She held it casually, not willing to be distracted (and not risking her low alcohol tolerance in the open like this), and watched him take a slow pull on it. He sighed in resignation, knowing his friend would pester gently until he relented. “Magellan is not exactly as I expected it. Rather, it is resplendent and refined, its citizens as beautiful as reputed, but…” Kalli was starting to look a little deflated.
Jia agreed, it seemed you could tell the Venusians from everyone else by how well dressed and generally attractive they were, if you liked your people so very manicured. Regardless, they had style and elegance in spades. She nodded encouragingly; it seemed like a place the normally perfectly poised and groomed Kalli would have liked to visit, so why did he look so glum?
The tall man studied at his drink for a moment before shrugging gracefully. “It just seems I don’t fit the aesthetic desired here.” His voice was resigned, and Jia felt herself start to puff up indignantly. It might not seem like a big deal to some, but for better or worse, Kalli’s appearance, his body, and his ability to spread beauty was a deeply rooted and encompassing part of his identity. He went on to confide more than perhaps he would've, if she herself didn’t tend to confide her own insecurities to him. That, and maybe this wasn’t his first drink. “Evidently I’m too”, “he gestured vaguely looking for the right words and settling on what was close enough, “big. Strong featured. Possibly hairy, I don’t know.” He said it dismissively but it stung.
Jia snuggled her face into his chest before she thought about it, one arm hugged tight around what she could reach of his waist. She wasn’t known to be especially demonstratively affectionate outside of her brother and her lover, but the alternative was finding the lowlifes who could say such things to her glorious friend and introduce them to the business end of her Royal Sea Canon. Kalli blinked and looked down at the top of her head and patted it affectionately after a moment. She backed up and looked determinedly up at his face. “Then they aren’t worth your time, are they? Everyone likes what they like, but if they’re going to come out and say things like that, they sound awfully boring and close-minded to me. I hope not everyone here thinks like that, but if they do, well, there were a lot of ladies and gentlemen who can’t wait for you to get back to the Moon Kingdom, and of course I’m sure Xiao, Fendris, and Serpens, all of whom are twice or more the beauties any of these (excuse my language), dickless wonders are, would think they’re delusional.”
Kalli couldn’t help it, hearing their little tactician Princess call anyone a “dickless wonder” cracked him up, and his laugh was louder than he meant it. Jia smiled a bit crookedly, blushed a bit, and sipped her champagne. Good, that was her Kalli shining through. They changed the subject, and after a while, Jia wandered off to speak with one of the Venusian dignitaries about a matter of some importance. As the party wound down, Kalli stopped by to tell her where she could find him if he was needed, and she was relieved to see he was accompanied by no less than two stunning ladies and a very fine young man. Jia shook her head and told him to enjoy himself.
Moni blinked, staring at one of the chandeliers. Flashbacks were always a bit jarring, but she found this particular memory of Jia’s made her like the woman that much more. She had a hard time connecting Kalli and Bernie sometimes, maybe because she was his great great great so many times granddaughter rather than her being a reincarnation, but that hug and that laugh must be a family trait. She stood up and thought about maybe telling Bernie about that later, wondering if maybe she might like the story. For now, she hoped she could continue her search uninterrupted.
She left the ballroom feeling better, and after listening out for signs of life, she decided to keep heading down. She examined several items of possible significance before dismissing them; jewels, books, statuettes, and about twenty things that looked like items that could become horcruxes in the right story, but none of them gave her the right “out of place” vibe. She wandered around for perhaps an hour or so, and was beginning to wonder if there might not be anything significant to her task after all. That, and the reality was that the castle and surroundings were basically a city and she could search for weeks and never see it all. It all sounded simple until you actually starting thinking about the scale of the task.
She decided to check the guest rooms, on the basis that visitors were the best bet for finding things that didn’t belong. She found quite a few items forgotten in drawers, wardrobes, and chests, and a few of them looked promising. She knew she had found something special though, when she happened upon a necklace in one of the less sumptuous rooms. It was on a plain black cord, but the design is what caught her eye. Shaped like a heart (a common theme here on Venus), it appeared to be a locket. Inside of the heart on the surface was the face of the Moon. Moni thought about what they were looking for. Everything that had been important to them so far seemed to go back to the Moon. The Moon, the Earth, and the Cloaked world appeared to be this trifecta of significance, and this could possibly tie the Moon and Venus together. It was as good a lead as she had so far. Moni gently unlatched the locket, and once opened, it played an unfamiliar tune. Nestled within was a photo or drawing too old to see which it was, and a scrap of paper with a note she couldn't read. She carefully closed it, humming the melody to herself.
Moni looped the cord around her wrist several times as to not lose it, and ascended the spiral staircases back up to the observatory tower. She spent a few more minutes watching the planet before turning back to where the Earth and its Moon stood against the blackness. Perhaps she would come back again sometime and draw it, but she really did need to get back to the Cloaked World and hand over her prize to the Lady. She’d like to chat with Bernie too if she was feeling better. As she prepared to leave, she considered that, even if this locket wasn’t what they were looking for, she was glad she came.
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Mentioned in the story:
Moni and her family (Current Gen Dorado), Jia (Gen 1 Dorado), Lady of the Stars, and Dagger nickyflamingo
Bernie (Current Gen Coma Berenices), Kalli (Gen 1 Coma Berenices) wandering-kotka
Catori (Lynx), Darryl, and the Moxies, Zayn unisamas
V (Current Gen Chameleon), Rhoot, indirectly (Gen 1 Chameleon) LotusLumino
Ka’Ah’Lani, indirectly BishiLover16
Lan (Current Gen Lupus), Roh, indirectly (Gen 1 Lupus), Null SailorAlcyone
Xiao (Gen 1 Columba) snow-princess
Fendris (Gen 1 Deneb) TenshiNeera
Serpens (Gen 1 Serpens) Jateshi
