Lance sits in a cafe drinking some coffee. His new black jacket had flecks of red on it which was the blood of some punks who had decided to pick a fight with him, he wasn't in the mood. Was this really what he had been defending all this time? He looked around a the people, laughing, brooding, talking, enjoying themselves. If he turned into Oni here he wondered what would happen, they'd hate him, fear him. Lance had a bitter taste in his mouth. He had been sitting on this for a week or so but, he was finally fed up with all of this. The text from Sophia earlier talking about how she needed to talk with the group and determine a leader was the last straw.

"Why do I need to defend people who will only hate me in return?" He wondered, it was a thought that had been nagging at him ever since his discussion with Taurus. Were humans and Youma really so different? Taurus and Valdis had treated him and his more like humans that any of these so called people did. Well maybe Sophia was an exception, but believing in a couple of exception seemed so crazy now that he thought about it.

Lance had finally decided to make the call. He had called Taurus and said he was ready to take her up on her offer. He didn't owe these people any loyalty and if the senshi were going to start bringing the military in on this he was more likely to die due to friendly fire than in any fight...and that was just...wrong. He was okay fighting and dying, hell it was what he expected and wanted, but if the protectors of this planet were going to get the military involved in this then it wasn't them protecting their territory or the people anymore it was them putting them in danger.

He had a couple of conditions, but it was time to see what the other side of this coin was like.

Valdis had left the meeting of Senshi after officially announcing her separation from the group. She had made her way back to the city, not quite ready to call it a night quite yet. A cup of warm tea at the moment though sounded heavenly. She was back in her human form, her white hair going back to its trade mark dark purple hue. She still wore her tight black pants and thigh high boots with detailed metal embellishments. Along with a black and purple corset with a bit of black lace overlay over the shimmery purple material. Her fitted knee length coat styled in a 17th century justaucorps style was still wrapped tightly around her. It was made with black material with metal clasps that lined the front of the jacket. Only the portion of the clasps were secured starting at her breasts and ending at her waist and cuffs on the jacket were heavily embroidered with metal embellishments that matched the details on her boots. Her long slender hands were still warmly covered by her black soft leather gloves, which was good because she had been out in the cold for a couple hours now. Her throat was sore due to going from a recording right to a meeting in which involved long winded speeches. So perhaps she would add milk and honey to her tea…

She pushed open the door to the café and walked up and ordered an earl grey tea with milk and honey, along with an apple pastry. When she got her order she turned and was surprised to see Lance…or Soma…she wasn’t sure which was in control. So she went over and stood by his table with a lopsided smile.

”Mind if I join you, it’s been a long evening”

The message was unexpected. Taurus believed that Lance would reach a decision closer to the end of this whole battle. She didn’t mind this change though. It did mean she had to abandon her hunt for the time being.

She arrives at the meeting place in her typical sense of style, drab as always aside from the bright red scarf. She nods to Lance but heads to the counter first. Food first, then talk. With a regular coffee and a turkey sandwich, she sits at the table.

She looks over to the unknown girl, “Yes, it has, but I believe this chair was reserved for me.” Turning her attention back to Lance, she asks, “You called?”

As Valdis walks over and sits down Lance gives her a hostile glare. There wouldn't really be any doubt who was in charge. Instead of Soma's air of maturity, confidence and control Lance's seething resentment and aggression were more akin to an angry teenager than someone with centuries of life experience. "Oh it's you..." he says with an almost dismissive tone. "So did you skip out on the club meeting or just get sick and leave it?"

Lance takes another sip of his black coffee and his eyes resume scanning the cafe as if looking for an enemy, or maybe just someone to pick a fight with. "I don't get what kinda game you're playing Valdis. It's pretty obvious that you've got attachments to the senshi and knights, beyond a simple plant, so why are you joining this side?" He asks, though his questions is cut off by Taurus's arrival. A wide grin and anticipatory grin appears on his face and his muscles tense as if he was getting ready to throw down right here.

"So you didn't invite her?" He asks Taurus slightly surprised and reaches over to nearby table, barely reaching and grabbing a chair to pull over. "Here."

Once she was settled he looks the woman straight in the eyes and says. "I called to discuss possible terms for me joining up." he explains "but the first thing I gotta know is where are you on the totem pole among the zodiac? If you make a deal with me are the others going to honor it?"

Valdis smiled as the answer to her question of which one was in charge was answered, either way she took a seat. So grumpy this one was, but she would at least make an attempt to get to know this personality of his as well. She raised an eyebrow when he asked her what she was doing here, and whether or not she had been at the meeting.

”I was at the meeting….but I did leave.”

She smiled when he asked what exactly her deal was, it was certainly questionable. She would have answered but it would seem the Cow had come to join them. She looked up at the older woman with a quirked brow and a sly grin. Quickly beginning to put two and two together. She vaguely wondered if this situation was the Soma personalities influence…that and she wondered how much of what they talked about the other night Lance knew about. She slung an arm around the older girls shoulder.

”Had I known this was going to be a gathering of friends I would have been here sooner! My appearance here is just a lucky coincidence. But the cow here can answer your last question in full, she knows the full story of my involvement anyhow.”

She released the older girl and twirled a purple class ring around on her finger.

”As for my involvement with the Senshi tonight I officially announced my separation from them. Youma do not have a place among them as a whole. I do not see that changing unless something drastic happens to change their view points on youma.”

Valdis raised an eyebrow when Lance so freely announced his willingness to join the other side. And had the balls to do so even before she had announced her separation. Was this to Soma’s influence? His personalities made things significantly more interesting, it was hard to gauge what he would do next. But she turned to Tauros, she was actually interested in hearing the answer to this question as well.

”That would be good to know…Shall I call my twinsy so we all can have a tea party”

She smiled, if the cow didn’t know who she was before she would now.

Taurus stiffens as the girl puts an arm around her. However, the name cow meets her ears. Oh. “I apologize. I didn’t recognize you, Valdis.” Sitting down, she starts drinking her coffee.

“They had a meeting that went so horribly that two people that forced two people to join this side. I have to wonder what exactly happened there,” Taurus says looking up at the purple-haired girl.

“Evidently, not as a high up as they people who are thousands of years my senior of which there are 4 besides Virgo, who obviously outranks everyone. However, one I would say is less his own person and more an extension of Virgo, so make that 3 actually. We operate independently for the most part, but they seem to be privileged to more information than myself. The rest are on an equal playing field. Considering how big of a deal that you joining us would be, I doubt they would do anything to seriously piss you or me off. Go ahead and call him if you like,” she answers before taking a bite of her sandwich.

After hearing Valdis's reply Lances eyes narrow. That sounded like a load of bull to him. "It was a meeting of a buncha crazy people with superpowers. There was probably a clash of egos." He replies to Taurus as he looks at Valdis with suspicion. Then he lets out a long sigh. "Well I suppose everyone's got their reasons and it's not like I have any intention of being an ideal tin soldier either, but Soma likes you so I assume there is more going on here than I've been told." He admits plainly not bothering to hide that he was likely to be rude and insubordinate.

"Is this Twinsie person one of the high ranking ones?" He asks as his eyes shift over to Taurus. "Anyways I'll wait if you want to bring in this other person, but the first and most important condition I am placing on this is that I am joining willingly, but I have no intention to simply follow orders and my will needs to remain my own. If this is going to be a problem then we can stop this discussion right here and now. And if I find out at any point I am being mentally manipulated, we will have issues." He declares with a serious expression on his face. Lance appeared to have little patience for niceties and was going to be completely straight forward about what should be expected from this bargain. "There are some other conditions but that is the first and biggest one."

”The meeting did not go as bad as one would expect, I accepted Gemini’s offer to join him before I made any attempt to separate myself from the group. I went with the intention of announcing my separation before the meeting even started. What went on was they were attempting to get themselves organized…how long that will last time will see.”

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at Taurus, she already knew this. Valdis nodded when Taurus explained; then turned to Lance when he asked whether her Twinsy was on a higher rank.

”If you’re asking if he’s someone like the cow here then yes and I am going to assume that Gem is on the same level as the cow here, he’s not one of the old ones as the squid bug man was. Virgo is the top tier, she was the one to gather the old ones together to fight to begin with. The older ones I’m assuming were the generals that fought along during the first assault on the moon kingdom. Half of the reason they know more is due to the fact they were the ones needed to lay the foundation for all of this to take place….The others I will assume have more personal reasons for fighting then the older four.”

She took a sip of her tea.

”No guarantee he’ll show up, you seemed to have gotten the more touchy feely one out of the group”

She giggled and concentrated as beneath her glove the Zodiac sign glowed. This time instead of just making it glow she sent a message along with it ‘ooooh twinsie there’s a tea party going on with the cow and another newbie care to join’.

”I’ll be curious to if he shows up; I haven’t gotten to see his face yet.”

“I'm not the one who makes tin soldiers.  You have my assurance that I’m not trying to manipulate. I am not alright with removing someone’s free will. But like I told Valdis before, I work with a lot of snakes. So no, you can’t trust everyone that you meet on this side. However, you figure out very quickly who you can and cannot trust. So what are the other conditions?”


She gives a nod at Valdis’ assessment. “That’s fairly accurate.” She raises an eyebrow, “Touchy feely? More so than the one that shares half a necklace? Gemini is a fairly busy person though, and I’m guessing he hasn’t told you what he does normally. I would also be interested to see whether he will show up.”

As Valdis attempts to reach out to Gemini, there is a silence. A few moments later, the following image is thrust into the forefront of her consciousness

Along with the words: The Zodiac you are trying to reach is unavailable right now. Please try again another time you needy minion.

The image would pulse red off and on and remain locked in her vision for a solid fifteen seconds before slowly fading, likely traumatizing the girl.

Valdis face suddenly blanked as she was talking; her eye twitched as a horrified look crossed her face. She would be completely silent and twitching like this for the full fifteen seconds that the image was assaulting her brain. Afterward she scrunched up her nose with a frown.

”Needy indeed”

Yes she was now talking to herself out loud, but she was focused on another matter at the moment. Apparently they could share images as well as words…and she was a quick learner. So in turn Valdis sent a very vivid image of Gemini wearing a fairly skimpy maid out fit in the classic ‘draw me like one of your French girls pose’ with a ’I can imagine your very busy right now’[/b] Valdis turned her attention back to her table mates.

”Me and my Zodiac have a very…interesting relationship… however I do not think he’s coming. If he does I shall be surprised. As for the necklace I kinda just shoved it over his head and declared him as my twinsie and ran like a little bitch…. I have absolutely no clue if he actually wears it. I haven’t seen him since I did it. But if he is I will retract that statement for now until further investigation. But what does he do for work?”

Lance watches everything that goes on with Valdis with a fairly neutral expression. "We're not going to become like that are we?" He asks Taurus with a raised eyebrow. He was starting to realize that Valdis was a very strange character.

"Anyways if this is everybody I'll say what I want simply." He places his elbows on the table. "First I want an agreement that I won't be micromanaged and that I am given independence. Second I want something to help me further harness the strength I've got within me. Going berserk all the time has started interfering with my ability to fight. I also want a territory of my own, a place that the others will not mess with or at the very least where it is understood I will protect it. And Finally I want a wage, and a sizable one, evil needs to pay well to be worth it." he says simply.

After giving his list of demands Lance leans back and keeps an eye on the two. If they decided to get rid of him instead of hiring him then this would get messy. He figured he'd probably do okay, but this restaurant and probably this city block wouldn't be.

Taurus drinks her coffee and gives a slight shrug at the question. “If he hasn’t told you, it’s not my thing to tell. Considering that two of you seem to be in each other’s minds quite frequently, I am sure that you can get it out of him.”

“I don’t expect nor do I normally give gifts. So no, I don’t suspect so,” Taurus answers.

She leans back in her chair, thinking about the list of demands. He was asking for a lot. “Alright, you will be granted a great deal of independence. However, keep in mind what Virgo says goes. However, orders from her tend to be general with a high degree of flexibility. Currently, you are associated with me, so I doubt the others will attempt to give you orders. As for retaining control when you fight, I don’t have a quick a fix for it. It isn’t impossible, but don’t expect things to change inside of a day. Strength is won, not given. Land and money are easy to come by. Do you have any idea where you would want to live? Living outside of this planet is perhaps the easiest. On Earth, some areas you will need to fight every day to keep people away, others will be deserted, and some the people will be apathetic enough to earn your ire.”

Finishing about half of her food fairly quickly, she muses, “Evil… I suppose we could be. However, I would argue a necessary one.”

“Now, what are you willing to give for these things? Are all these things only for your neutrality? Can we expect you to fight our enemies? And when the war is won, what then? I personally plan to continue to fighting,” she says.

”Actually I literally just figured out how to do that. I didn’t know it was actually possible to send verbal communications…and he just gave me a hard lesson that you can also send images via that link as well….I will never be able to un see that….however I don’t think he’ll be able to un see the image he got in return. After that I don’t think he’d want to be in my mind…”

Valdis quirked her eyebrow at Lance when he asked if he was going to be like that with Taurus.

”What’s so bad about being like me and twinsie, we enjoy our relationship of mentally scaring each other.”

Valdis listened to Lances demands, and slightly kicked herself for not requesting the same. However she knew not all the demands were going to be met.

”As much as I understood it the only one who can give you anything relating to those demands is Virgo herself….and you got to prove yourself to her. However from my observation you have better luck being a male, the majority of the Zodiac so far have been so. Only females I have seen are the cow here, and Rosa’s mum. The one who went all stabby stabby on you. As for the others as well I have noticed Virgo is willing bargain what a person wants most for their loyalty.”

Valdis also mused on the rest of what he had said.

”I’m curious as well, how you will fare fighting with youma. I have fought with you on the same goal once before and it did not stop you from accidentally mistaking me for blasting material. While I understand the mistake I doubt it would go over well with Virgo if you caused a delay with a mistake like that….She has a temper from what I have seen….honestly I personally am not looking forward to dealing with her in person when the time comes. But if you wan't a more clear answer to what can and cannot happen I suggest talking to her instead of the cow here. But the cows backing certainly will help you...its the same with Gemini and me. They are our tickets for being able to talk to her and have a hope of not being instantly disposed of”

She did not say anything about his oni personality, since he chose to word it as going berserk. However Soma seemed to have made the distinction between the personalities. But still best let others keep their own secrets. Valdis also wondered what she would do if she made it to the end.

”Honestly I have no clue what I’d do, I have made no plans nor entertain hopes of any plans. To many things remain uncertain in the times to come. I only have a list of things I wish to accomplish if my time should run short. Personally I wish to return to my homeland, up until the point where I accepted Gemini’s mark that was impossible…”

Lance leans his cheek on his hand and squints as he hears that he'll have to do this whole thing again with Virgo. "I'd rather not deal with something like that." He grumbles as he had no interest in this lady whom they all seemed to worship or at least follow. "I'll let you speak for me when you talk to the Lady then, not interested in doing this again." He explains.

"As for what I am offering, well first and foremost I won't be killing any of you assuming you don't mess with the territory I'm given. Additionally I suppose I wouldn't mind mixing it up with some of the senshi and knights if the opportunity presents itself. Though I'm not going to be at your beck and call, and I will help bail you out if you end up in over your head. If we come to an agreement I will be letting the senshi and knights know though. I have no intention of spying or it being a surprise when I show up to fight them."

His eyes are feirce as he outline his territory, which amounts to a good section of one of the lower middle class residential districts and several local construction sites. "There are some debts that I still have to repay and just like how all youma aren't bad, neither are all humans." He locks eyes with Taurus when she asks him what he will do after they've won and he smiles.

"There's always another battle to fight."