Rei gasps, her body frozen as she hears the sound of blood dripping onto the floor. Her eyes seem glued open, voice seemingly lost to the void as she stares at her attacker in horror.
A scream rends the air, and the moment breaks.
Rei watches as the closest body in front of her lurches forward, catching the second body as it crumbles. Rei finds her feet moving on their own shifting around them to take in the scene. Elysia is holding Tempest, who lies with a sword partially lodged in her abdomen as it had been removed a bit when her body fell. Blood is pooling beneath them. Tempest is already unconscious. Rei panics, knowing her kidney must have been hit.
Voices are screaming for a healer. The elder sibling is staring blankly at her sisters at her feet. Rei can't decide if she wants to completely fry the woman or kneel next to Elysia. She wishes she could help heal the dying teen, but her talents will only work on exterior wounds, not internal ones. It would take a true healer to fix the internal problems. Sealing and cauterizing exterior wounds would be her only means of helping someone. As this isn't a "flesh wound", there's nothing she can do to offer assistance.
The priestess is in motion to kneel next to Elysia. Healers are storming into the room. Rei's knee just hits the floor when a second scream rends the air.
Elysia clings to her twin, weeping hysterically. The healers try to close in, but it's obvious it's too late. One healer grabs Tempest's wrist, everyone watching with baited breath. The fall of the healer's face is all the answer anyone needs.
The King and Queen are on the floor now, holding their lost child along with her twin. All the other siblings close in grasping each other for comfort as they bow their heads with tears in their eyes. The young boy from earlier is sobbing brokenly into one of his siblings arms. Rei is surrounded by them, arms on her shoulders as she too mourns the loss.
She isn't sure how long they all sit this way. Her despair over the first loss before the war even begins leaves a sickening coil of disgust in her stomach. It doesn't help that she had been the target, and yet she is the one to live. Slowly, her rage starts to build, her thoughts repeatedly tumbling over themselves as they replay the scene. Just as she rises to her feet, a growl from Elysia gives everyone pause.
Elysia is the most gracious, caring, and lovable person any of the Jupitains' had seen. She had never lost her temper or raised her hand in malice. However, they can all feel the wash of pure rage that emanates from her now. She jumps, landing squarely on her feet just out of reach of her parents and before her murdering sister. Elysia is soaked in blood; even her hands are coated in its thick sticky grasp. Her green eyes visibly glow as her body shakes with fury.
Before any can blink, Elysia raises her hand sharply, palm towards the ceiling. Roots shoot out of the ground, thick and gnarled. They ensnare the startled princess gaping at her. Elysia snarls, whipping her other hand out and across her torso in a clawing motion. Thorny vines shoot from the walls themselves to wring themselves around each of the traitors exposed limbs. The woman screams as the thorns tear at her flesh. With a heavy thrust of her hands towards the floor, hands facing downward with fingers curled, Elysia forces her elder sister to her knees.
Everyone gawks at the show of power, power none of them knew she even possessed except the Martian.
"You!" growls Elysia, her voice deep, guttural. "You not only strike at an emissary, a ROYAL emissary, you strike down your own flesh and blood!" Her hands begin to twist and flex, and the vines surrounding the woman begin to writhe in a horrifying fashion. Elysia heeds not the screams that emit from her sibling as she continues her motions. "I commit thee have done a treasonous deed! You have brought shame upon your house, your family, and your planet! You have been cast out of each! You are no longer of this house! You are no longer of this family! You are no longer Jupitian! I sentence thee to roam the wilds unaided! You shall be a shadow, a wraith, a ghost to all! You shall not EXIST! You will not enter any building, city, or home! You are exiled from all! When you die, the jungle will feast on you and let your carcass rot in unacknowledged shame! Let your soul be cast for judgment, and pray that the gods have mercy for your unforgivable sin!"
A shine of light flares, blinding them all; it signals the finality of the judgment enacted by Elysia, a show of pure and raw power to signify her royalty in the most devastating of fashions. It's meaning strikes witnesses mute.
Her arms drop, hands going still. A mass of roots and vines alike fall to the floor; leaving only a certain few woven so tightly to the traitor's limbs, they are like permanent twisted jewelry. The woman's wrists, biceps, head, waist, ankles and thighs are bound in such a fashion, the thorns on those vines allowing that every movement would be agony for as long as she lived, feeding off her very blood for sustenance. The pain is visible on the woman's face.
Elysia's face is emotionless, unaffected by the sight. "You are the Nameless. These vines will be your brand, your mark of sin. All who see them will know of your deed and know to ignore you and your pleas. They can never be removed. May they remind you of your sin, so that you will understand it fully." Elysia sneers, visibly restraining herself from doing more. "Leave." She growls when her sister hesitates, looking to her family for support. All eyes look away. "LEAVE!" roars Elysia. A flash of lightening lights up the room from outside and is followed closely by a loud clap of thunder that shakes the entire building.
Rei can feel the power of the storm, its link to Elysia… It leaves the raven haired woman in awe. Sometimes she forgets that Makoto had shown talent in both areas in the future, and that it seems the girl's power stems completely of all of Mother Nature, not just a piece of it. Inaudibly, the raven haired woman chuckles to herself; it figures, that her caring and mothering friend would have such a talent.
The Nameless ran from the room at the show of power, gob smacked that her "talentless" sister had power none of them came close to possessing.
Elysia remains stone-faced until the Nameless is out of sight. As soon as the woman's figure disappears, Elysia collapses into tears. Both monarchs move to her, wrapping her in their arms once more. The Queen croons softly while the King mutters quiet never ending lines of "there, there".
Rei is left standing uncertainly. Punishment has been dealt. Her mission to find the chosen was successful. But now, she isn't certain what to do. She needed to know if Elysia knew to go to the Moon and when she would be headed there. She also didn't want to interrupt because she knew that the brunette was distraught and had every right to grieve, but had no idea what to do with herself.
She glanced down at Tempest. A glint of metal caught her eye.
The clack of heels fills the hall, bringing every eye to her. She steadfastly ignores them, intent upon her target. Dropping to a knee, she reaches out and gingerly takes the knife from Tempest's boot. She hears several members of the family shift around her, but she doesn't let it distract her as she stands once more. She cups the dagger in her hand, dark amethyst eyes taking in every single detail. She smiles softly before closing her eyes and focusing her power.
What she is attempting is dangerous. It takes a large quantity of talent, experience, and focus. She'd made other such attempts in the past and failed horribly, leaving several harsh scars on her flesh. She has only met one other person who could do this, and her father only uses it on rare, very rare, occasions.
The blade in her hands becomes surrounded in a blaze of fire. It twists and flares, bringing gasps from those watching. She focuses more intently, her hands unharmed from the tendrils of heat. Everyone watches in shock as the flames slowly begin to change colors, from a happy merry orange to a subdued but intense blue. The knife's shape begins to change, to warp. The flames lift it from her hands and hold it several inches from her grasp. It begins to shrink upon itself, swirling tightly until it forms a molten glowing sphere of metal. Rei slowly brings her hands further into the fire, eyes seeing past it, into it. She is using her inner sight to feel out the magic, to twist the fire to forge the metal. Her hands encase the red hot glowing glob of metal, and she cannot help the wince that overtakes her.
Pushing past the pain, she feeds her will upon the metal, condensing it, forming it anew.
The hall is now utterly silent. Everyone is transfixed by her actions. They watch as sweat beads across her brow and across her upper lip. Her breathing becomes quick, tight. Her hair wafts around her from the power she's emitting. Small tendrils of smoke rise from her hands, proof that she is not doing this unscathed.
With a final gasp, she releases her power. Trembling, her hands fall to her sides, unable to remain aloft. A metal clink follows the motion as she sways on her feet. Several eyes stray to the dropped item while the rest eye her warily. Bravely, the young boy clambers out of his brother's arms and over to the dropped item. He bends down and reaches for it. Several cries of alarm fill the air, but he picks up the item without any hesitation.
He doesn't recoil in pain. He simply holds the item up in awe. After glancing at Rei, who nods, he smiles and happily bounds over to his sister and holds out his prize with a wide grin. "It's for you!" he says proudly.
She gapes at him. Her glance darts between their guest and her brother before her hand slowly opens before him. He drops it into her palm. She brings it close to inspect. Her eyes widen.
A small timid rose sits in her palm. The petals are seemingly frail, but the obvious dark waves in the metal show the layered quality that gives it strength; it also lends it a beautiful pattern that looked splendid. It isn't overly large. It is small enough that it makes a nice sized pendant without being bulky and uncomfortable. It hangs from a chain without the usual hook, leaving the flower unmarred and lovely.
Tears fill the brunette's eyes. "It's lovely," she says, voice trembling.
Rei smiles slightly at her, chest filling with joy that she could give her friend such a gift even in the face of such tragedy.
A wave of disorientation washes over her, and Rei finds herself immediately held up by several hands as her body threatens to collapse on her.
"Quickly, take her to a room to rest. I think any more discussions can wait 'til the morrow. You." She points at a healer. "Follow and look after her hands." The Queen nods brusquely at her family and servants who scamper to follow her command. She looks at her daughter who still is entangled in her arms. "I think some rest would do you well, too. It was an unsavory thing that has happened this day, but I am proud of the way you handled it. I was worried for you, being chosen, but now I see that worry is unnecessary." She places a kiss upon Elysia's brow. "You have made me proud this day, my child. I have no doubt you will continue to do so even when you leave us." She smiles warmly at her child before pulling the three of them to their feet. "Now, off to bed, young one. We shall all have a busy day tomorrow."
Elysia glances at her fallen twin.
The King clicks his tongue. "Relax, young one. She will be cared for. You will have a chance to say your goodbyes to her before you leave, I promise."
She nods slowly and her father is quick to embrace her tightly. He gently pulls her along towards the family's chambers.
The Queen waits until they are out of sight before turning to the servants. "Please, prepare her for tomorrow. I know it is hurried, but I fear my child will leave, and I want her to see off her twin. I want word spread of what has happened here this day. I want it noted in the records and marked that the Nameless one has been branded for her sins, punished by the un-named heir." She scoffs at her servants gasps. "Yes, she is the heir, but her duties as Senshii pull her from it. We all saw the sign. However, I cannot willfully name her the heir for she is needed elsewhere. No matter our desire, the need of all will eventually take her from us and put her where she is supposed to be. I cannot argue that, as much as I wish it. Now go, I foresee the morrow being a very long day indeed."
She turns away sharply, her gown snapping as she does so. She is so swift, no one is able to see the tears running down their Queen's cheeks.
