The Hall of Shadows was a place Chalcanthite was familiar with after so many trips to look into youma and their behaviours. Having prepared a small map to push out through the tablets to all interested parties, he waited until everyone was present before beginning. As usual, every strand of hair was in place, and that calm and collected manner in which he held himself was on display as he watched and counted the various people who would be joining. Pleased to see some of his team here, he knew that they would be on their best behaviour when it came to this little experiment of his.
"Hello, while some of you may recognise me, I know others may not. The goal for today is simple: I have found a few anomalous crystals that seem to have an unusual effect on youma as well as some other individuals. After a few months of gathering crystals of a similar vein, I have created a few items which I need assistance in testing."
Holding out a delicately carved crystalline item for them all to view, he was careful not to tap it against anything or strike it. It held a shape similar to that of a tuning fork though with the clarity of the crystal it was made of it looked more like glass than anything else.
"There are many crystals in the Rift, that much is obvious, but I need to find more of this clarity, quality, with a lack of inclusions that may cause fracturing. It may bring some curious guests, which is why I have Sieginite here as well as Benitoite."
Once he was certain everyone had a look at the item, he tucked it carefully away for the moment before looking over the gathered crowd. "It seems to pacify some youma, though to what extent and for how long I am currently uncertain. I need to source more materials that I am not able to on my own within a reasonable amount of time, which is why I invited all of you here."
With a calm smile, he turned to look toward the path ahead. "I need not remind you that youma can cause trouble for corrupt senshi, so please be on your best behaviour. There will be no room for troublemakers when we really get down to it." His voice grew slightly sharp and cold with that warning before motioning for them to follow along.
"Those who follow with me, our goal is to find more crystals, mainly. Those with Benitoite will be looking out for curious youma or any trouble in that vein. Finally, Sieginite will be covering as backup in both those tasks, focusing on a bit wider of an area to make sure nothing comes up and that we can expand the area of the search." While it was a quick explanation now, he had put in details about it to both of his fellow generals. With everything in place and help at the ready, he didn't want to delay things any longer.
"Come along now, the map I provided gives us the most direct route without much interaction with various roaming youma that I have noticed over the years." Not all of them were as nice and predictable but it did make things easier at times when they were.
Jet arrived as a General. Not because he needed to be, but because this was Chalcanthite's operation. Jet had no intention of drawing attention away from the work being done there. His presence was support, not meant as a spectacle.
He stood near Aquamarine, relaxed but attentive, hands folded loosely behind his back as Chalcanthite addressed the gathered group. He'd already removed his cape and outer jacket, since pomp and circumstance was unnecessary where they were going, and his shaggy mess of curls had been tied up into a small ponytail. His expression remained open, almost easy, but his eyes moved over the crowd with quiet purpose.
There were familiar faces. Some less familiar. Some he knew by reputation more than personal experience.
Good.
There was value in seeing how agents behaved when they were not trying to impress a superior officer directly. He paid attention to who listened, who watched, who looked bored, who understood the danger of the Rift, and who thought this was simply an excursion with a prize to be won.
The crystalline tuning fork drew his attention when Chalcanthite held it out. Jet studied it with genuine interest, his eyes narrowing just slightly as the General explained its purpose.
"That's an impressive amount of work," Jet said once Chalcanthite finished, his tone conversational but sincere. "And a useful application, if further testing proves consistent."
He glanced briefly toward the path ahead, then back to the group.
"General Chalcanthite has been clear about expectations," he continued, still with that same pleasant calm in his voice and expression. "This is his research and his operation. Follow his instructions, stay with your assigned groups, and don't assume the Rift will forgive carelessness just because we've planned things out."
There was no sharpness in his voice, as there was no need for it. The warning sat easily beneath the words anyway. There was a part of him that didn't think it was necessary to reiterate what Chalcanthite said, but just in case anyone looked to him for direction, he wanted to make it clear whose mission it was.
His attention shifted back to Chalcanthite, and he nodded his head. "Lead the way."
Kamacite stood quietly among the gathered officers, bright sunset colors stark against the shadows of the Rift. For this mission, his long hair had been cut and tied carefully out of the way. It would return the next time he powered up, but for now there was no sense in letting it drag across stone or crystal, or be caught by something curious enough to reach.
His arms crossed beneath his sleeves, hands tucked into his robes. He listened without interrupting as Chalcanthite explained, his gaze settling on the crystalline tuning fork when it was displayed. Pacifying youma sounded useful, if it worked. Dangerous, if it did not. The Rift rarely offered anything without consequence.
At the mention of 'corrupt senshi,' his eyes lowered briefly.
Kamacite said nothing. It was not his place to correct him, and Chalcanthite did not mean offense. Still, the word sat uncomfortably in his chest. He preferred 'Negaverse senshi.' Or simply 'senshi.'
Corrupt made it sound as though he needed to be fixed. As though any senshi in the Negaverse didn't belong.
He stepped forward to follow, quiet and watchful, no stranger to the Rift or the things that lived there.
Where Jet went Aquamarine usually followed, which meant he’d already been into the Rift far more often than he would have cared to otherwise. Jet was a busybody. He always had to be doing something—helping someone, or observing something, or sticking his nose where it didn’t have to be. Aquamarine sometimes wished Jet had taken after Axinite more. Paperwork was boring and tedious, and someone was always creating an unnecessary amount of it, but at least it didn’t necessitate a trip into the Rift all that often.
‘Thought you were going to stand back and keep your mouth shut,’ Aquamarine let his thoughts drift through the connection between their matching earrings.
He wouldn’t question Jet out loud, not if it meant some other a*****e might think they could do the same, but he wasn’t against issuing a reminder in secret. Aquamarine didn’t even direct his resting b***h face at Jet in case someone took it as an excuse to engage in a bit of disrespect. He eyed the other officers and senshi instead, trying to determine ahead of time who was likely to be the biggest trouble maker. He did, however, stand quite close to Jet, much less concerned with appearances than he used to be. If someone thought their proximity was inappropriate or saw them casually touch one another and made assumptions about it, that wasn’t his problem.
He didn’t know what to expect, even though he’d read what he could and Bloodstone and Roselite had both offered up what information their own experiences could provide. (Roselite had of course been more helpful than Bloodstone, who Jasper was already convinced had been exaggerating if not offering outright lies.) At the very least, Jasper knew it could be dangerous. He listened to Chalcanthite attentively and stayed within his assigned group.
Few faces were familiar to him, and the ones that were Jasper tended to avoid. He frowned at the sound of Jet’s voice but hoped he seemed focused more than annoyed. He would not bring personal business into what was essentially a work setting.
At least Kamacite was near. Jasper couldn’t say much for the qualifications of the rest of his group, but he knew the Eternal Senshi was both competent and accomplished.
A mission into the Rift, however uneventful it was intended to be, should never be taken lightly. Her last trip in had been some time ago when she was a Lieutenant. Carnallite had taken it seriously then. She took it more seriously now.
The purposes of the mission were less interesting to her than the opportunity. She didn’t often get the chance to come along. Carnallite intended to prove herself useful. She could follow orders. She could give them, too, if necessary. She would not be the one their superior officers had to look out for, nor would she be the one causing trouble. She knew what her job was, and she had every intention of doing it to the Negaverse’s exacting standards.
Quote:
Interact at your own risk.
I'm just kidding, please feel free. Only Aqua is mean.
He preferred clear exits and solid ground and cliffs that were only cliffs, not cliffs surrounded by shadows and youma and crystals that might or might not do something that puts everyone's lives in danger. But he'd been there before. He knew enough to listen.
Mostly, he was there because Aquamarine was there, and Reidite still had not decided what kind of debt he owed a brat who saved his life because Cymophane had asked nicely.
He glanced briefly toward Aquamarine, unimpressed, before returning to Chalcanthite and the crystal in his hand.
"Pacify youma," he repeated, a heavy accent thick over his words as he leaned over to Carnallite as if sharing a secret. Except he didn't bother lowering his voice to a whisper. "Could be very exciting if it does not work."
Hands clasped behind her, back straight at attention, Brassite listened to her boss talk his talk with a serious expression. Partly because this was work, which she did take pretty seriously, and partly to help make Chal look extra good. Yeah yeah, his team is sooo professional! They respect him sooo much! Look how great we are!
Plus, well...almost everybody else looked like they were in their 30's. It felt like if she stepped even a little out of line, she be grounded and given extra homework.
Generally, Brassite usually interacted with youma out and about in the city, draining and skulking and enjoying their little walkies. Pretty chill all in all. But the Rift, that was their turf, and it was where things could get a lot wilder. And bigger. The mention of corrupt senshi had her eyes sliding over to Ako, who was sticking with their general's group. Smart. The price of having a special starseed with a whole big destiny attached, was being primo youma chow. It'd be good if their senshi had a little help in not entering the youma circle of life.
Sidling toward the youma wrangling group, she noted another captain in a very cool uniform that looked made for adventures, with a pretty impressive resting bitchface to go with it. Next to her was a blonde guy who looked less bitchy and more just unthrilled, but when he spoke up, Brassite understood. His face was just being super Russian.
Honestly, it would be pretty cool if they had to fight a giant megayouma.
Sunshine Alouette
youma team proximity!
Guine
youma team proximity!
lizbot
No Faun
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SSBrosB rolled 1 20-sided dice:
7Total: 7 (1-20)
SSBrosB
Anxious Blob
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2026 4:19 pm
Character:Captain Eveite Team: Exploration (against her will) Roll: 7
The look of annoyance was quite plain on Eveite's face. She wouldn't have been here if Chambersite hadn't demanded it. It seemed that she wasn't going out as often as those higher up in the Negaverse had liked and so she had been told she needed to go on this mission to make up for it.
That didn't mean she had to look happy while doing it.
The Rift wasn't something she had explored or was even interested in. If she were a general, she would most likely need to get a Youma to summon like most of the others had. But she still would have rather been in a building with no windows in front of a computer screen helping the Negaverse out that way rather than... physical activity.
Arseno quitely stood near Benitoite looking at the crowd that had gathered. Smaller than usual, but that had it's advantages, just like a larger group would have it's own. He made a mental note to Ödön in the area while they were searching. That youma was always good for scouting and needing to attack in a flash if need be.
He was glad that Chalcanthite had made so much progress, even if they had barely interacted. He knew he needed to work on his own project as well, but being a Doctor, even one that wasn't in the emergency room, had kept him busier than he had thought he would be. It was only major events that he had been able to come too in recent years. Anything smaller than that usually required a holiday or precious time off that was spent on doing other things. Things that weren't as important, but helped him to relax and get ready for the next week of work.
Ako arrived in a swishing of skirts and flame filled footprints, making her way over near Brassite to listen to their General. She nodded at the younger woman in polite greeting, making note to tell her later that the rank up looked good on her. Directing her attention entirely to Chalcanthite after that, she listened carefully. She would make no mistakes, no slip ups that could reflect poorly on her leader, and she would take no risks that she could help.
The rift had been something she had been admittedly curious about, having been interested in youma in general since she was first brought over, so this was an excellent opportunity to learn more about them. Idly she wondered if Voce would be joining them. It had been quite some time since she had seen Chalcanthite's youma bird, and she wouldn't mind giving him some scritches under the beak if the chance arose.
As Chalcanthite displayed the crystal, Ako made sure to take in every detail about it that she could. While clothing was more her thing, jewelry was still part of the fashion industry, and she had learned a little about gemstones and crystals as she proceeded to educate herself on the matter in preparation for her future endeavor. The crystal was indeed lovely looking, with little to no inclusions that she could see.
Ako straightened back up as Chalcanthite tucked the crystal away and barely managed to not make a face at the firm reminder that she most definitely was out of her element with this. It felt odd to be one of only two senshi on the team, and at times it certainly would eat away at the edges of her confidence. Today, however, she was determined to show just how much she deserved not only her place on the team, but her rank as well. She would not falter, and she would show her worth.
Giving Brassite another nod, Ako made her way to stand with Chalcanthite and the others in their group before following after them. She wasn't sure what to expect within the Rift, but she knew that so long as she stuck by the others and didn't make herself a target or visibly tasty treat, she would be fine.
Its been awhile since she was out on the field, and Saleeite never realized how much she missed it. She hasn't exactly been around her other teammates much, but perhaps she should fix that? Looking around at everyone that came up, her attention snapped to her general the moment he started speaking, wincing at the mention that there should be no trouble makers. Sure he wasn't speaking to her directly but....She felt strangely called out. The crystal Chalcanthite revealed and displayed caught her attention so fast it was like a squirrel flew by. Ohhhhh she wanted to touch it so badly, but refraining and acting like the general she should be was more important no matter how shiny the toy is.
It made her wonder if she could ever acquire one personally....Something to text Chal about later, she was sure he would love something work related other than the 100th pic of her twin children.
Her green eyes spotted a very familiar head of long brown hair, and instead of making noise, she carefully snuck up so that she would be walking directly behind her best friend. "Aaaaaakkkkkooooooooo~" She singsonged.
He'd been approached by his fellow General in the lad up to this exploration, things had been explained to him, he had understood the need for safety and had accepted the posistion Chalcanthite had asked him to take up in this mission. It sounded simple but that didn't mean it would be, it didn't mean anything beyiond it's objective, because he knew how unpredictable things could be and how quickly things could become dangerous. He would make sure everyone got out of here safely, and with more crystals if they were sucessful, because that was his task. Standing silently the petite blond kept his blue eyes focused on the taller general, listening to what he already knew, his hands clasped together at his front.
The rift was not a new place for him, he'd been there far too many times over the years, and the place was no less dangerous than the first time he'd been there. The only differences were his rank, no longer some new lieutenant, and his experience. He wasn't going to go running into the rift waving a weapon about looking for a fight, because he would much rather avoid a fight, this was a place where the general did not want to fight. Watching as officers moved towards him, taking note of each one, he nodded his head to them each. At least he had a team that looked capable, though most were officers unknown to him, he figured they were not taking on this task lightly and would be able to hold up should any fighting take place.
Looking to Arsenopyrite he couldn't help but smile, glad to see one of his own, his team had shrunk in some ways over the years and while he'd been building an inner team made up of family members it still bothered him that his original team had shrunk. Some had vanished, or were rarely around, while others had purified. To have one here, a doctor no less, was appreciated and the smile he sent the others way convayed that; or so he hoped. "Let us hope this goes well, we both know how the rift can be." Unpredictable and unforgiving. He was also, secretly, hoping not to run into the spider youma he's once seen during another mission. It would not look good for him to have a panic attack, especially since no one here knew he had an issue with the eight legged monsters that were spiders.
"Turn out is less than I'd hoped." He added in an even lower voice, just for the other to hear." He'd told his family members, his inner team, about this upcoming mission and allowed them to make their own choices on the matter. His fiance wa home, of course, he might be a senshi but he was not one for fighting or even risking himself. At least he knew about the negaverse, he accepted it, and there were no secrets between them.
Staurolite had arrived with time to spare, and had spent it standing within his general's immediate vicinity. He looked as relaxed as ever, though those that knew him better might be able to tell the tension now living just under his skin. It wasn't his first time being involved in some kind of operation, but it was the first time he was both genuinely interested and fully invested in the outcome. He wanted to contribute somehow, in hopefully some meaningful sort of way, and his attention drifted toward Chalcanthite every few minutes until he began the introduction and explanation of what they had all been gathered for.
He listened closely, carefully, arms crossed but an easy smile on his face, and he nodded appropriately as Chalcanthite spoke. Both the clarity of the crystal as well as the tuning fork itself elicited a low whistle from him, and under his breath he wondered how lucky they might have to be in order to find enough crystals of that same quality to suit his needs.
"How many do you think you'll need?" he asked as he fell in line to follow Chal, then glanced around and quietly regarded the others that were also gathering around the general with little nods and a friendly smile.
Sara Draconia
Sara Draconia rolled 1 20-sided dice:
16Total: 16 (1-20)
While he hadn't exactly been to the Rift, Laven had told him enough about it and youma over the past year and a half. Those monsters, creatures, or whatever they were seemed less likely to go after him now, but even still, he didn't exactly know if he liked them or not. Or rather, he wasn't sure of his stance on them aside from Laven. But she wasn't exactly like these things either.
Hearing that one of the teams would be back up, he decided to scoot into that group as unnoticed as he could manage. It sounded like it might be the furthest group away from whatever might happen, and he was perfectly alright with that. Part of him thought he recognized at least one of them from that scary monstrosity in the sky, but Laven had pulled him out of that so quickly that he couldn't be sure.
Being here was at least something, and he might learn a bit to help figure out what he could do for Aiolos in the meantime. He needed to talk to Laven about how he could bring Aiolos in, but part of him worried if that might be a sore subject for them.
Sara Draconia
Wheezing Loiterer
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Sara Draconia rolled 1 20-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-20)
Dualite wanted to see firsthand what Chalcanthite was doing, especially after she'd started to dabble in the database and look over information. While the invitation hadn't been given to her directly, when she saw that Ako was going, she decided to look into this as well.
She still didn't quite trust the man, not nearly as much as she trusted either Desiree or Liam. So if anything this was to stick her toes into whatever this place was. With a group large enough to slip into without standing directly near the man, she looked over towards Ako for a moment.
"What does he mean by pacifying youma?" Asking quietly as she followed them, and the path marked on the map. This place was so strange, stranger than Earth was when she first arrived. But she also couldn't deny that the crystal formations in the area were something worth looking at. They reminded her of something, a memory just out of reach where it fell between the cracks.
