✩ the moon's inkling | nita & desirée ✩

✧ It was a rare sight to see the girl of pink diamonds asleep in the bed that rested within the middle of her private chambers of the Luminous Rose Stronghold- ever since she abandoned her aspects of humanity and became that of a crystalline divine, almost four years ago, she became accustomed to the lack of a need of rest like ordinary mortals. A subtle change with its own pros and cons, it was not that she didn't wish to achieve sleep like the others, but that it entailed such a loss of time within her many responsibilities. The normal awake hours of the day spent in the realm of Earthland and the night hours spent in the other dimension of Chrysalis, it was her new way of life; though after living through a day on the Ministrelian Desertio border on behalf of the Luminous Covenant, she felt as though she wanted to spend a bit of time in ultimate relaxation under the silky covers of her bed.

Though the dreams that lined the canvas of her slumber were bitter and dark. All she could see within her fields of vision within the astral plane was a solemn squelching of utter darkness, an abyss of stars embedded with the colors of a deep black sinking and rising within its ink-like seas. It was not as if Desirée could process what she was seeing- she was unconscious as she slept and envisioned such a thing, but what would catch her eye would be the crystalline structure of a brilliant white that would be sinking into the depths of the mass of darkness that sprawled across the dream's brilliant universe. Just what could that shining star in the depths be? It was an unsettling sight for her mind to produce within the resonance of her brain, and though it felt wrong, it was accompanied by a familiar feeling of longing.

Within a burst of white and pink light, the guildmistress would shoot awake from her bed, twirling aggressively due to a feeling of being slingshot into reality once more- she would float just above her bed only to be met by multiple different tones of ringing from various forms of crystaltech that lined her bedroom's furniture and trinkets, notifications directly from the other eleven diamonds consistently blaring. A feeling of panic would ensue within her stomach. Nothing like this had ever happened before within her rule as queen of the other world; it was wildly concerning, and though she was in a puffy nightgown and her hair was sticking in all sorts of different places from the tip of her crown to far beyond her feet in levitation, she would rapidly shoot to the side of her room. Upon a luxuriously ornate dresser made entirely of pink and white crystal, ordained with various otherworldly and familiar Fioran trinkets, would sit a large diamond-shaped gem that would be emitting one of the notification sounds- she would rest her hand above it like a lacrimatech mouse and click it to reveal a multitude of different holograms with various text dialogues and diagrams. Though one of the cameras would be focused in another room, being that of her holy mentor, Diamandis Stellavera, the predecessor to the throne of Chrysalis. She would appear to be frantically pacing around her room, opening books of all kinds as her golden sheep of the cosmos would begin setting up telescopes and opening star portals to retain stardust.

"Vera..? What is going on? I'm just waking up from starsleep, why so many calls?" Desirée would ask in a rather concerned tone, wondering just what was going on to warrant such things.

As soon as the woman's ears retained the voice of the pink diamond, she would immediately turn to face the camera and would run towards it frantically- her golden sheep would follow, spilling bundles of stardust across her chamber's floors to be met with Desirée on the other side of the crystaltech video call.

"Desirée, something is going very, very, very wrong, it's so bad, why does it have to be this bad?" Vera would frantically speak to the pink-haired slayer while also muttering to herself in a panic, tears forming in her eyes as she would continue, "Diamandis Stellune has vanished from the Royal Crystal Court and her location is leading to the moon- not the Chrysalis moon, but the moon of Earthland. Her airship is still in its docking hub, but there is so much more to explain."

"But she could have used one of the warps to get there, wh-" the pink-haired slayer would begin to speak to the other Queen as she would open the decadent rose and white curtains that lined the nearby walls facing upward to the sky, only to be cut off by such an immense feeling of dread.

Within the sky where the moon rested, as it was still the time of the morning where it was a bit visible within the rising sun's rays, would sit the moon, though it would appear to anyone who would get a glimpse of it to be extremely unordinary; it would seem to be over halfway encompassed in a black mass of darkness, and though it was quite far away, it was extremely potent in color. Unholy darkness- it made a pit form in the girl of the cosmos' stomach, and though she felt extremely confused due to just how much was going on in such little time, she knew that it was her responsibility to get to the bottom of just what mysteries were unfolding on the surface of the moon.

"All of the Chrysalis warp pads to the moon are disabled- though it hurts me so bad to say this, it has to be because Stellune is in trouble. She installed all of them during her era," her mentor would say to her on the screen, trembling in her wake.

"The warp pad in the gem vein, Vera! ✧" Desirée would exclaim as the idea hit her mind like a truck, her eyes fluctuating from a hot pink to that of a lustrous golden, "I was the one that created it, so it may still be functional! I will head there at once, and if it doesn't work, I will fly directly to the moon. Thank you, Vera, I will send you updates when I can."

Quickly shutting off the crystaltech with the click of her crystal, amidst Vera's pleading for the guildmistress to be immensely careful, she would shoot up from her seat she was taking and would briefly stare at the moon- she knew she needed help with what she could potentially be facing, if anything, as it takes immense strength to take on the diamonds. If Stellune was in trouble by an outside force, it would have to be due to someone with great strengths. But just who would be able to do such a thing, especially within the Chrysalis Royal Court of all places? Pondering to herself with multiple ideals at once, Desirée would try to think of just who would be able to assist her with this mission out of her list of aces she had appointed within Luminous Rose. But most led to roadblocks- Lyra was facing a magical sickness of some kind, the Faulkners were most likely busy due to various forms of magecraft within jobs, and the same would most likely apply to Sakura. Would Nita be available?

"Rose, set out to find Nita at once- if you find her, tell her that I request assistance in something extremely important if she's free. In the Hall of Legends," she would speak to her fluffy pink crystalline wolf, which to Nita would probably look more like a fox.

Immediately following, the two would shoot out of the door that lead to the guildmistress' chambers in different directions- Rose throughout the many winding roads and bridges within the ravine, and Desirée in the direction of the grand hall. Taking flight and leaving an extremely luminous trail behind within her flight, made entirely of white and pink swirled stardust, if one were to spot her she would appear disheveled and panicking; still within her flowy gown she used to sleep in, her hair somewhat straightening out due to her speed in flight but still sticking out in some places. Once she would make it to the entrance of the ravine's central base of operations, she would shoot down the extensive hallway that housed the many familiar faces of her current guildmembers' statues, landing next to her rosy throne of crystal that sat just under the statue that depicted her within her prime. Though upon her feet smacking rather aggressively on the floor when she landed, she would sprint just behind her statue and raise her hand outward to meet her palm with the stone- channeling her magical energy into her hand she would begin to speak an incantation, followed by a brilliant light shining out of the gem that rested on her forehead.

Due to such magical intention, from behind the large mass of her statue's left leg would create a fluctuating pink portal, which would soon reveal a hidden staircase heading deep into the underground of the ravine- though it was lit by ultraviolet pink torches, it would appear to not have anywhere close of an end to the sets of stairs it hosted. It led deep underground into the earth, all the way to the hidden gem vein- it was Desirée's newest precautionary, having been created in secrecy by her during some occasional nights. It served a variety of different purposes for the future, though there was one reason she wished for it to exist that soared far beyond the rest. Her mind after seeing just what was unfolding between the different sides of the war in Earthland made her feel a concern for the land she called her home- she wished for it to serve as a bunker for guild members and innocents alike if things were to be brought to Fiore in the future, and from there, she would wish to establish a castle on the moon that could serve as an even stronger bunker from such terrible events. She wished to prepare for the worst- and the warp pad to the moon in the gem vein was just installed, and though it had not been buttered up (aka used) yet by anyone, she felt it could serve a use in the predicament she currently found herself in.

If the newest Ace of Luminous Rose was available and willing to assist the demon slayer in the potential threat that resided on the moon, she would be the first person other than Desirée's pets to witness the hidden gem of Luminous Rose that was the gem vein. Though she seemed to be focusing on the situation at hand within her mind rather than the excitement that she normally would feel while showing people such new creations of hers- nothing mattered more to her at this moment than finding out just what was going on within the cosmos. She wanted to save the diamond of white- and she hoped she was not too late. Within her panic, while she was awaiting the potential return of her wolf companion, hopefully accompanied by Nita, she would raise her hand out to summon her equipment to get ready for her arrival on the moon. Developing her entire body in fluctuating light rays, they would soon be cast out to reveal a reinforced and much more put-together version of the guildmistress- a silky white dress decorated with crystal chains and invisible armor of sorts that would cascade over her skin would appear, matching her otherworldly crown of diamonds that rested upon her pink waves of hair.

Truthfully, the feeling that strung throughout her heart and mind was that of fear- just what if her father was responsible for such terrible things, just like he was for the many years prior to this one? Sure, he was slacking off after facing a defeat within his brigade in the other world- but almost a year has passed since the last colossus was defeated. What if all this time he was building back up his evil, wretched power? It made goosebumps arise upon her crystalline skin- she hoped it would be an anomaly of sorts, something less extravagant. A false alarm. But while she would wait for the arrival of her acquaintances, summoning and sharpening her rose quartz ring blade, her mind would tick on and on about the endless possibilities of pain that could come from what was unfolding in the morning sky.

wc: 2,114
tag: @Fraag

✧ Unfolding into the dark thoughts within her mind consistently due to the overwhelming possibilities of panic that crept inside, the pink diamond would sigh as she would continue to sharpen her ring blade, soon to be greeted by a small pink portal of crystalline opening beside her. It would appear to host that of her companion, Rose, in her full-fledged fox form- she would express to the guildmistress that Nita would be here in 'a jiffy,', something that would cause the color of Desirée's eyes to express in the colors of lustrous gold. A sigh of relief would meet the lips of the pink-haired demon slayer, but it would be met with an undertone of hesitation, her gaze looking onto the tile of the grand hall. If Nita were to accept Desirée's request of assistance, it would mark the expedition to be the first adventure they were to go on together, especially as ace and guildmistress- and the first time the pink queen would find herself going in the form of a duo with someone as high of ranking as her newest Ace was, something she would expect to remember forever. The queen viewed rankings and official titles within Fiore as pure testaments of power, an inspiration- she wanted to be at the top one day, but she knew her destiny would bring such fates later in her life, or so she hoped. It felt natural in the stars, even if it was a bit shameful to her to be so conceited.

A moment of silence would pass when a line would appear within the hall, striking the guildmistress' gaze- it would soon produce a rather soaking Nita Fortune, which would soon wave out to greet her and inquire on the situation.

"Hi Nita, thank you for coming, ✧" Desirée would softly speak to the guild's newest ace, reaching in her pocket to grab her vaporizer and then raising it to her lips to get a large hit of smoke before continuing her statement, ".. the moon is pulsating unholy black darkness and someone of the cosmos I consider dear to me has gone missing. I know we haven't got many chances to get to know each other as of recent, but you may have heard mention of the crystalline world that's deep in the folds of Earthland's thermospheric and exospheric layers around the ravine- and that I've sat upon its throne for a few three years."

Taking onto the edge of her ring blade's center, the gemstone queen would press a button and cause the glistening rose quartz blade to retract into the handle, allowing it to sit firmly on a small white belt that would run across her waist.

"The stellar line of succession functions as a grand council, with the head being the current reigning- the seventh queen of Chrysalis, Diamandis Stellune, the white diamond, has vanished from her chambers and cannot be traced to anywhere within the world of gems. Just about a year and a half ago, the multi-dimensional war was put at a stalemate upon defeating a wretched unholy worm, the last of the opponent's forces, but perhaps, it may be resuming. I need to make my way to the moon, and if you are willing, it would be an honor to have your help, ✧" she would confidently and gracefully speak while gazing upon her new ace, her hands clasped together, "..it's quite the ordeal, and I don't want to drag you into all of this if you're not willing. The war within Ishgar is enough as is, but right now, all of the gates out of Chrysalis aren't functioning so I have to turn to those here for assistance in these unfortunate cosmic matters.. If the multi-dimensional war is resuming, he certainly picked a bad time to do so.."

Unwillingly releasing an outward expression of somber energies in the form of her eyes cascading into a violet color, Desirée would begin to experience an overwhelming feeling of hesitation- she felt as if she was putting a lot on the shoulders of her newest ace, one of her members she hadn't quite got the chance to know. She felt as though she was asking too much of the familiar face and would not be surprised if her request was met with a similar hesitation or rejection. If anything, she would not blame Nita for having these feelings if she was met with such. Turning toward the back of her statue, which would now host a long set of stairs illuminated with pale rose torches all the way down, she would sigh and take another hit of her vaporizer, slipping it into her pocket once more.

"I've been working in secret on something deep underground. I call it the gem vein- and it hosts a warp directly to the surface of the moon. At first I wished for it to be an expanse into cosmic endeavors for those of Luminous Rose, but with everything that has been going on outside of Fiore's borders.. it now has the reinforcement to serve as a bunker in case things escalate onto the country's soil," she would speak rather seriously despite her bubbly nature, her eyes peering down the steps that would lead to her newest crystalline creation, "..if you're willing to journey to the cosmos to me, I can answer any and all questions you may have on the way down. I'm sorry for being so forward with this, Nita- but I really, really, really need your help. I'm extremely worried. ✧"

It wasn't like the guildmistress to exhibit such anxious and sad emotions to those around her- she typically bottled them all up with her alcoholism, but right now was more serious than ever. She had to face what she felt was all left behind when she descended back into the realm of Earthland- and she didn't want to do it all alone.

post wc: 988
thread wc: 3996

✧ Listening to the words that floated out of Nita's lips made Desiree's gaze flutter from that of a deep violet into a golden star-speckled infusion of the most lustrous mica and a bright pink- though the whirlwind of emotions stirred deep within her consciousness, it felt much better to be faced with optimism and care rather than the hesitation she was expecting in her request. Beginning to take each step downwards in stride as she would begin to continue their conversation, causing a small shimmering sound and puff of pink light to outpour with the clacks of her heels, the glow from the gem on her forehead would outpour light in front of the two; it would seemingly illuminate the long stairway more so than the pink lights that shone from its edges.

"I'm grateful for your willingness to help me with all of this, it's so heartwarming and I-," she would stop herself for a moment before resuming, almost tripping down the cascading steps, "the one that is responsible for the multi-dimensional war has tampered with the darkest of things.. he has caused me to lose so much that I've considered dear to me. If he's up there... I will have to give everything it takes to end his ways of madness. The strife of war is not a friend of mine as well."

The pink Queen's eyes would shift into a sky blue color from their previous state, outwardly expressing just what was going on in her head- she was, frankly, embarrassed to be leaning toward the worst possible outcome within these kinds of situations, even if it was something common that she couldn't control. Her optimism regarding the state of darkness in the stellar domains was slowly fading prior to these events, but witnessing the pool of black upon the surface of the moon made it dip much lower. The feeling of dread increased with each step she would take; she blamed herself for the misfortunes in her past, the destruction of the guilds Angel's Folly and Crystal Swan. It was he that caused it all. It was laid out in her mind that it was just to prepare for the worst to be the best, even if what awaited them was just an anomaly of stellar magic, nothing more- she had to take this precautionary to assure that nothing else would be lost in the stars. Her strong connections with those all around her were something she would not be willing to lose ever again- they meant more than anything to her, and with that, so did their prosperity.

"I don't want anything to go wrong today, Nita- I'm out of loved ones to lose," she would let out a tiny chuckle of sadness as she would continue her steps down the stairs, wiping away a tear of worry as they began to near the end of the extensive stairway. It would appear to host an illuminated entrance of bright pinks and whites, and though faintly, a small dinging could be heard from inside. "We are getting closer to the gem vein, I apologize in advance for the mess."


Upon their approach to the end of the stairway, a small pulsation of pink light would extend through the chasm that stretched forward, greeting the two with an automated voice. "Welcome, Queen Diamandis Stellarose- access granted!" would ring up the stairway in an echo, allowing the bright light that separated the two from the structure to unfold into a bridge of crystalline structures in order to lead them to the levitating structure in the center. The gem vein, which would take its name from the expanse of bright blue and white crystals that lined the entirety of the chasm, was the home of an abandoned palanquin of the crystalline goddess in the original multi-dimensional war thousands of years ago. While quite grand, it would appear as more of a floating clock tower and surrounding land than a transporter of royalty and would be home to a magical clock on the exterior that would share properties with that of a magical circle. Further advancing to the outer edge of the entrance of the clock tower, which would be entirely open without walls and only home to decadent columns, an abnormally large pink mini-fridge would appear to be plugged into a larger device, resembling a magical control panel. The faint dinging would be emanating from one of the glowing boxes on the panel, alongside the words 'live feed'. On the right of the two ethereal electronics would span a small hallway, still open on the sides, which would lead to a warp pad constructed of pink gems.

"This was once used by the goddess of Chrysalis thousands of years ago and was able to spectate activity on the moon, but- a live feed is transmuting without request?" she would question herself aloud, advancing closer to the control panel with quite the strong feeling of anxiety in her stomach, "I'm going to activate the control panel's screen, it will be best to see what's going on remotely than going in blind."

Raising her vaporizer to her mouth and exhaling a shimmering cloud of smoke, Desirée's quick steps to the control panel would sound like a panicked scurry rather than a delicate clack- it would be led with another confirmation of access being granted, this time from the control panel, and would change from its white crystalline structure to a glowing pink. The keys would light up forming a keyboard just in time for a pink hologram to shoot outward from the top, maximizing to span almost triple the size of the control panel in order to catch every detail of what would soon be projected onto the screen. Slowly backing up from the screen to see it more clearly, as standing too close to the television was much more straining than enjoyable in her eyes, the crystalline slayer would let out a deep breath as the view of the moon would cut into the frame, flashing out from the hologram just as a screen would illuminate in a dark room.

The gaze of the feed would appear to span from the moon's surface upward as if it was on the ground level of the moon sitting in a bed of the moon's sands- however, instead of being a show of nothing out of the blue, there would appear to be a decadent and royal-styled table sitting in the camera's gaze, accompanied by the missing Queen tending to the food that was sprawled across the table's surface. It was White Diamond- and though she appeared to be safe, there was something off about the way everything was in the frame. Replacing the brilliant holy white light that would sprawl out of her gemstone on her hand would be a deep black, ripping outward into the sky above- it would be almost connected with the black pooling shadows that encased the moon, but unlike what Desirée was expecting, the darkness was instead forming a dome around the moon rather than seeping into it. Stars would seem to attempt to ripple their light through the darkness above the missing queen, and though their brightness would shine through momentarily everywhere, they would fade out and into view rather than constantly shining like they were supposed to. The heart of the guildmistress would drop at the sight of this, but what stung more was the flag that spanned behind her, reading 'Happy Belated Birthday Desirée'.

"The white sprawls into the black, the Navilleran King shines, white finger, black blood, the prophecy, the fallen, the anew, the answer... The chosen one sprawls into chaos, the Rose Queen bound, pink finger, black blood, the prophecy, the broken, the fallen, the fallen," the queen upon the moon's voice would trail into the speakers of the control panel, accompanied with her movement around the table. Her focus would be on that of the birthday cake in the center, which would be decorated with white icing and pink hearts- in view, she would seem to insert one of her sharp acrylic fingernails into the side of the cake, and with this, her glowing eyes would turn into a void of black. "The prophecy sprawls into nothingness, the Navilleran King shines, white finger, black blood, the order of the lost world, the order of Earthland, the answer," she would continue, appearing to pull darkness from her blackened eyes into her hand, turning it black and pumping the cake full of unholy shadow. Removing her nail, a small shot of blackness would trickle out of the hole and shoot onto the table, only to drift into the surrounding dome of darkness.

"This is regicide, Nita... she is attempting to act against the crown of Chrysalis- something is terribly, terribly, wrong," Desirée would begin to speak to her Ace as her eyes would stay in view of the missing Queen, noticing White's eyes would appear to shift into their normal hue. Turning and walking toward the mini-fridge with initiative, she would quickly grab a triangular-shaped gem that would shift between all the colors of the rainbow off it's interior top shelf and would speedily flutter over to the warp pad, maintaining her levitation whilst looking down at its structure. Raising it within her hands and tossing it over the warp pad, it would seem to become activated to anyone that would be able to witness it- shooting upward through the structure above and hitting the roof of the gem vein would manifest a fluctuating portal-like array of light, that of which the two would be able to now use once the rainbow gem would fully establish the connection to the corresponding warp pad on the moon. It was something that had to be performed upon first use of every warp pad, even those that White Diamond made on Chrysalis- it was her that taught Desirée how to establish these stellar connections.

Witnessing the fluctuating array of light spanning upward, the pink Queen could not help but cause her emotions to spiral even more in her head, just behind her luminescent gem- she was just as upset as she was angry, and in resonance with her eyes, one would appear a deep blue and the other would appear a deep red. It had to be true that outside interference of him was at play with this horrific scene, and Desirée was underprepared- in her eyes, this was the start of yet another one of his wretched phases.

For about a minute on the screen, deep in the distance of the hologram's view would project a triangular pyramid-like structure of deep black color, and just barely on top would appear to be a shadow of a man. A flock of blue butterflies would fly around this shadow, and his hand would appear to raise to be met with their grasp- then suddenly, the pyramid, the shadow, the butterflies, all gone. The guildmistress' back was turned from the screen in hopes to formulate a plan, causing her to not get a glimpse of that dark omen that lurked in the distance.

"The warp should be fully established in a few moments, gods- I'm so conflicted, Nita, that is one of my closest friends," Desirée would begin to shake her head, clenching her hands over her heart as she would speak, "I don't know how things will play out, but- I think she has been taken by the darkness of the adversary, and.. his darkness must be quelled with light, no matter what it takes."

A tear began to trickle down her cheek, followed by another, and soon, a small river of glitter-filled pink tears would fall down her face. All she wanted was to make sure she did not lose any of her loved ones again; and now it appeared to her as if she already had, to the dark grasp of the wretched one. She had the feeling in her stomach that made her feel like this would not end well for her happiness, and with that, the thought that she would have to accept the cruel reality of her future containing a duel to the death with her now former fellow Queen.

wc: 2,043
total wc: 7,154
tag: @Fraag