Welcome to Gaia! ::

Somniorum idly bounced his lantern on the end of its string as he walked.
OK, not so bad tonight.
Could be worse.
Could be a dozen or more youma chasing him.
Or another one of those wolf things.
Definitely could be worse.

Maybe he should start dousing himself in some manner of bitterant. That might make him less appetizing to whatever might be roaming the street.

Wait.

Dammit.

The page wasn’t one to believe in jinxes, but if the Chaos energy signature he detected was any indication, he had assessed the situation prematurely. He hadn’t been in an actual fight since he’d transformed, and the ones he’d been in before had left him in need of rescue. He gave the aggravating fabric at his throat another loosening pull, mentally preparing to engage with whoever approached.

Somniorum froze as the senshi(?) she looked like a senshi. She was probably a senshi. Felt similar but not quite the same. Whatever she was, she was looking at him. There was no one else around for her to be talking to. At least no one that he saw.

Weird.

Her arms were open. Why? He wasn’t a hugger. Not with most people.

Bacchus would probably be telling him to go for the eyes right about now.
He wasn’t the soundest source of advice. Well meaning. Most of the time. But not a fount of wisdom.

“…What are you?

His eyes refused to meet the stranger’s gaze, fixed firmly on her forehead.

“I don’t know what you are.”

Should he hit her? He’d never hit someone.

The page frowned slightly at the offense he’d caused. It had seemed like a reasonable thing to ask. Maybe not to her, since this was apparently what she did every day, but you’d think she’d be used to questions about her nature.

“Sorry.”

Somniorum watched the senshi in confusion. The “Dark Mirror” part was new and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was yet another sentient cosmic force no one had bothered to tell him about. The “no dead bodies” part was something he could work with, if it was true, and if they shared the same idea of what constituted a little bit of energy.

“Your court? Like a royal court or a-” He found himself cut off by a sudden flurry of purple petals. “What? Hey!”

He began swatting at the flowers as they surrounded him, confusion washing over him as the anxiety rising within him ebbed. That was wrong, right? The page blinked slowly, staring at the source of the strange magic.

“What did you-” Or maybe it wasn’t her, maybe it was another one of the weird things that hung around this city that he’d never noticed. At least she wasn’t trying to eat him. Or eat whatever the flowers were. That wasn’t entirely out of the realm of the possible. At least when he was out with certain parties.

“What did you-” Or maybe it wasn’t her, maybe it was another one of the weird things that hung around this city that he’d never noticed. At least she wasn’t trying to eat him. Or eat whatever the flowers were. That wasn’t entirely out of the realm of the possible. At least when he was out with certain parties.

Whatever Sappho’s magic was, Somniorum felt an incredible relief as the effects waned, though it left him attempting to hold back the anger that came with the knowledge that she’d somehow manipulated his mind. Somehow the capacity for Chaos to do that was far more alarming than the knowledge that they could physically hurt him.

“Incentive?!”

Somniorum was incredulous at how casually the Dark Mirror Senshi admitted to using her magic to warp his perspective. How she considered that incentive to remain calm was an absolute mystery to him. “That is.” He searched for the right words, his limitations in that area compounded by the agitation of this new reality. “Not right.”

Despite his anger (righteous as far as he was concerned) the page still couldn’t deny his fascination with the strange magic Sappho described. All magic held a great deal of fascination for him if he was being honest, but he suspected that whatever their “cool special magical space” was, it wasn’t as innocent as the stranger wanted him to believe.

“It should find something else to eat then. Have you considered some kind of magical electricity?” The question wasn’t entirely sarcastic, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that something like that could exist. If it did, it was a hell of a lot less scary than how Bacchus had described Chaos to him, he wasn’t a vegan but he was certain that…spaces should be. Even if they couldn’t be, it hardly seemed worth a deal with the proverbial devil. “Chaos eats worlds, why would you trust it to help yours?”

Somniorum’s lips pressed into a thin line, nostrils flaring as the Dark Mirror Senshi attempted to feed him her spurious logic. He was in no position to get his point across with force, even if he had the inclination, and if someone cared so little for life on any planet other than the one on which they lived there was no point in trying to reason with them.

“Can’t argue with crazy” as he’d heard people say, and while he couldn’t claim any diagnostic skill in that area, he could only draw the conclusion she was either insane or a complete sociopath.

Or both.

Can’t rule out both.

Best not to turn his back on her.

“Right. Well. I’m going to go now. Excuse me.”

Gripping the handle of his lantern perhaps a bit too tight for comfort, the Moon Knight did his best to still his thoughts enough to get away from her.