Author's Note: So here's the next chapter, a little late. I'm trying to work on my updating speed, but my teachers seem to disagree as this week has just test after test, a project, a lab…it never ends. *sigh* Meanwhile, the plot thickens! This chapter is pretty much all talk, but next chapter promises to be a little more entertaining. I'll try to get it out by week's end, but don't be surprised if you readers end up waiting another week for another chapter; my life is getting a little hectic right now. In fact, don't expect anything this week, so that if I do get anything done, you can be pleasantly surprised.

Star Dancer

Part Ten: Balance of Power

What…what just…happened? Am I…dead?

Kakyuu was floating in darkness. She was content to float there in the silence, away from the demanding call of life, and she might have stayed there if not for the sudden and insistent song weaving through her ears. It was an urgent-sounding song, the melody strained and pulling at her. Find me! the melody seemed to say. Find me! Come! And Kakyuu remembered purpose.

She turned her eyes towards the light in the darkness that seemed rather far away from her. All the same, she pushed towards it, words coming back to her—her own voice screaming in her own mind words she could not seem to say: I'm sorry! Kakyuu frowned to herself. Sorry for what? The light was within her grasp now, and she reached—

—and memory came crashing down on her. Galaxia! She threw herself into the light, not caring that it seemed far too bright.

And she blinked open gritty eyes and immediately had to shut them again from the brilliant sunlight. After several long heartbeats she managed to open them again, and this time the light wasn't so bright that she would need to shield her eyes—and she found that she was indeed still within the realm of the living. She sat up very carefully, flinching at the sudden bursts of pain from her arms, which had borne the brunt of the attack after the shield had broken. She squinted at her hair and found that she'd lost about half a foot of it, leaving the red locks falling a short distance past her shoulders.

"Galaxia?" she called, but her voice was little louder than a whisper. She narrowed her eyes, looking around and feeling shock creep slowly throughout her body.

The courtyard was in ruins. Only one wall was completely unharmed; two others were charred black and melted, and the last had a hole driven straight through it to the other side. The stones were melted into a smoking crater at the far side—where Galaxia had been, Kakyuu thought abruptly.

She scrambled to her feet, swaying when she found her legs couldn't quite hold her. She stumbled backwards, her shoulders striking the wall behind her. She braced herself against the wall, breathing heavily. If Galaxia had planned to show her the might of the Star of Stars…why wasn't the courtyard gone? Why wasn't Kinmoku completely obliterated, washed from existence?

Unless… Kakyuu stumbled forwards, unwilling to touch the far walls where they looked to be still smoking. Could Galaxia have managed to somehow contain the Star of Stars' anger? How could she?

The golden Star Dancer was nowhere to be seen, and Kakyuu felt the first beginnings of fear. Where is she? Where did she go? She cast her thoughts back, to that fuzzy time after her shield had broken—

The golden thing that had been approaching her—that had been Galaxia! Kakyuu froze for a moment, feeling as if ice had crept into her veins as she recalled the rush of power and the shattering of golden glass…

Golden glass.

"Oh, stars," she breathed aloud, swaying in place. "Oh, stars!" How could she have done it? How could she have managed to destroy the shield? Maybe—maybe Galaxia hadn't been paying enough power to it, when the Star of Stars had demanded justice? And then… Her eyes narrowed. Something had been flung away, towards the far wall, and then the white fire had burned brighter…

"What did I do?" she whispered, as her stumbling steps took her at last to the smoking, charred crater, the stones melted together into a twisted whirlpool of rock, twisted by the enormity of the Heart of the Galaxy's star-energy.

Sitting at the center of the charred circle was an innocently glittering bracelet of gold. Kakyuu could not see it from her spot at the rim, but she knew that there would be a replica of the Saffer Crystal set into the other side. Thoughts whirled through her brain—I knocked off one of Galaxia's limiters. How did I—how could I do such a thing? How am I still alive? How is Kinmoku still alive? Half the power of the Star of Stars should have vaporized us all!

She tipped forwards in her shock and rolled down the bumpy surface of the crater, hissing as the melted rock jarred the burns on her arms. She rolled right into the limiter, the cool gold catching her shoulder and stopping her abrupt descent. Kakyuu pushed herself up, snatching up the limiter; her fingers found the tiny blue crystal and she felt the faintest edge of blessed cold wash over her—of course! The bracelet was meant to contain the Star of Stars' burning energy, so of course it should lessen her pain when her wounds had been dealt by the galaxy star's white fire!

But where is Galaxia? Clutching the limiter to her chest, Kakyuu heaved herself upright, glancing around wildly, but she knew that the golden Star Dancer was nowhere she could see. She rubbed at the little Saffer Crystal, but it wouldn't show her anything. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened—where had that power come from? She had thought that she would have had nothing left after her shield was destroyed, and yet…

Could it possibly have come from the Kinmoku Crystal?

Kakyuu frowned internally. That kind of power she had felt, buoyed by the strange anger—no, that wasn't the crystal of her planet. It couldn't be. Which meant it had to come from somewhere else; her eyes flew open when she recalled Galaxia's words: "The crystal forms a…a reflection of yourself, an 'other self' as it is, an image with all your power and all your memories and all your knowledge… And you must do battle with her, for it is always the hardest to defeat yourself, someone who knows everything you do. Your other self is your opposite; and she will stop at nothing to defeat you utterly. You must be stronger than she…through whatever way you can accomplish. They say that the reason for this battle between you and your other self is that you cannot have a divided heart; you must be sure in your convictions and determined to protect that which has been gifted to you."

Kakyuu stared down at the miniature galaxy jewel and wondered, Could it have been my other self manifesting? But…she's not supposed to appear until after I join to the Kinmoku Crystal! She felt the first prick of worry. Perhaps because she had been awakened to her magic by the Star of Stars, it didn't matter she had yet to bond to a crystal? And if her other self couldn't split from her… Her fingers curled tightly around the icy limiter.

What kind of a danger was she, if she couldn't figure out when her other self was manipulating her? What kind of a danger was she, to provoke the Star of Stars into such anger? What kind of a danger am I to—she shook her head rapidly, stopping the thought in its tracks. No! She recalled Galaxia asking if Pluto had named Kakyuu as the one who would bring about the End of Stars. At this rate, she thought morosely, I'll destroy the whole galaxy because I don't know how to control my other self!

Her concentration was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching. Kakyuu whirled, feeling her eyes widen. How could she have forgotten? The guards would surely come to investigate the explosion! Always before when they were tossing around fireballs, Galaxia had set up some sort of glamour to hide them from the eyes of passersby, but likely that had gone with the burst of energy that had left the courtyard in ruins. She had no idea what anyone else might have seen, but surely, it had to have been enough to fuel suspicions.

They couldn't find her here! They couldn't know she was practicing Star Dancer magic! Her mind screamed, Not yet, not yet! Kakyuu tried desperately to think of the sign for the invisible glamour, but she had never had a good look at the sign and her mind refused to cooperate. She shrank back against the crumbling wall, knowing she would be perfectly visible to anyone who looked inside.

And then it came to her in a flash of insight; she lifted her head to the sky and called as loudly as she dared, "Pluto! I need to speak with you!"

Luckily for her, it appeared the Star Dancer of Time was listening, because tendrils of mist swarmed from behind her, and when she turned Kinmoku was gone. The Gate of Time loomed before her, and standing before it was Pluto, her giant key in hand, just the same as she had been the last time the princess of Kinmoku had met her.

"Something's happened," Kakyuu said without preamble, switching the limiter to her other hand as the cold sunk into her fingers. "Something went wrong, I don't know how or why or—do you have any ideas as to where Galaxia is?" As soon as the question was out of her mouth, she felt foolish. How could Pluto not know? She was the Star Dancer of Time, for stars' sake! She had to know!

But would she tell Kakyuu? The princess of Kinmoku watched the Star Dancer carefully; but Pluto's red eyes showed no discernible emotions. Kakyuu found herself wishing for Galaxia, because at least with the golden Star Dancer she knew where she stood—Well, perhaps not anymore…

"The Star Dancer who bears the energy of the Heart of the Galaxy has returned to her birthplace," Pluto replied, not moving from the doors behind her.

"Her birthplace…" Kakyuu echoed. "You mean the Star of Stars?"

The Star Dancer of Time nodded once.

"Why is she there? Is it because of this?" Kakyuu held up the limiter. Pluto glanced towards it, extending a hand for it. Reluctantly, Kakyuu relinquished the golden bracelet, dropping it onto Pluto's palm. The Star Dancer turned it over in her hands, studying the tiny blue crystal on the forefront of the bracelet.

A faint light glittered from the depths of the miniature Saffer Crystal, and Kakyuu blinked in surprise when she noticed the reaction the little crystal brought about—she hadn't noticed it before, but Pluto too obviously had a crystal; Kakyuu just hadn't seen it the last time she had been in the dimension outside of time. Pluto's Star Dancer gemstone was a dark red color, the same color as the orb atop her great key, not like the bright ruby of the Kinmoku Crystal. For a brief moment, Kakyuu caught sight of a tiny pale light within the jewel, as if it had replied in answer to the tiny Saffer Crystal before receding back into the depths of the garnet gem.

After a long moment more of looking into the crystal, Pluto passed the limiter back. She did not say if she had been looking for anything or if she had only been inspecting the limiter for damage—Kakyuu supposed she could have been doing nothing at all and the princess of Kinmoku would be none the wiser.

Reminded of the limiter, Kakyuu closed her hands over it and asked, "How—how did I break through Galaxia's shield? I saw it—it was so much stronger than mine, it's—it's ridiculous to compare the two. How could I possibly have enough energy to break it? How did I manage to knock this off?" She lifted the limiter bracelet.

"It was a matter of timing…and of consequence," Pluto replied. She waved a hand before her, some tiny thread of Star Dancer's magic passing through her fingers, and Kakyuu watched with interest as little images grew in the air. She realized with a start that she recognized both of them. The one on the left was Galaxia, and the one on the right was herself. At that moment, she was watching herself yelling across to Galaxia—though the pictures provided no sound, she knew enough to be able to tell when she was yelling—and the princess of Kinmoku knew that it was when she had challenged the golden Star Dancer to try.

She watched as brilliant light seemed to fill Galaxia, Pluto explaining that the light represented the energy of the Star of Stars rising to the surface. The two tiny dots that were the galaxy Star Dancer's limiters wavered, struggling to keep the energy contained.

The little figure of Kakyuu abruptly covered her ears, and Kakyuu frowned, the memory of the Saffer Crystal's cry of pain flooding through her mind. "Why did the Saffer Crystal sound so…so anguished? It's never sounded like that before…and I didn't want to listen to it cry out—"

Pluto's eyes glittered against the pale glow of the magic hovering in the air before her. "The Saffer Crystal is unique in its bond to its Star Dancer," she began, pausing the images. "It broadcast to you what its Star Dancer felt at that moment, torn between a promise made to your father and an oath given at the beginning of her existence to the Heart of the Galaxy. She could not refuse the Star of Stars…but she did not wish to harm you, either, and that helped her to contain more of the energy than she would have originally expended. Kinmoku is not a pile of ashes in her wake only because of you…however; you must recall that you began this ordeal in the first place."

"That…" Kakyuu's voice failed her. That anguish was Galaxia? It came from her, not from the Saffer Crystal? "W-why would the Saffer Crystal do that—let me hear those emotions?"

"Galaxia once told you that the crystal was fond of you. That is not the most accurate description, but it was the only way she knew of to explain the idea to you in a way that you could not misinterpret. The Saffer Crystal chose to let you hear that specific range of emotions emanating from its Star Dancer in order to help you understand what you had done, the wrong you must now make right."

"I wronged the Star of Stars," Kakyuu mumbled bleakly. "Will it try to destroy me, if I attempt to contact Galaxia?"

Pluto's gaze shifted towards the Gate of Time. "The Star of Stars has been shown to be fickle in the past; it may consider its punishment of you complete after it released its energy upon you. And still…it may not. I do not know the whims of the galaxy star, but I would offer you this advice—should you survive your next encounter with it, you would do well to remember this time and know to ignore that voice and that anger."

Kakyuu tactfully chose to ignore the 'should you survive' part of Pluto's advice and instead focused on the last words. "Where did that anger come from? Who was the voice? It sounded like me, but—I don't want to hurt Galaxia!"

"But you do wish to become stronger, so that you may lay claim to the crystal of your home world and prove to those who believe you incapable that you can become a Star Dancer," Pluto raised one eyebrow pointedly. The key on her circlet glittered gold.

Kakyuu lowered her head, fixing her eyes on the tendrils of mist curling around her feet. "Yes," she whispered, because how could she deny the accusation of one who had seen her do so? "But—" she paused, swallowing thickly and wringing her hands, lifting her head to meet Pluto's dark eyes. "—I may want to be a Star Dancer, but not at the cost of Galaxia!"

"You mean well," Pluto allowed, shifting her giant key to one side, the garnet jewel glowing faintly against the gray stone of the Gate of Time. "You mean well, and yet you still managed to push these events into motion."

"I won't listen to that voice any longer, if that's what you want," Kakyuu said earnestly, clasping her hands behind her back. "But how am I supposed to tell if it's talking to me when it sounds just like me? How am I supposed to know if I'm the one thinking these thoughts or if it's that—that angry voice?"

"That is your own battle to fight," Pluto replied, her eyes growing distant. "I cannot tell you everything about what you may or may not become; it is your own journey, and I can only help you along it."

Kakyuu heaved a sigh. "Couldn't you give me a hint?"

The Star Dancer of Time was quiet for a long heartbeat, her gaze staring evenly at the princess of Kinmoku. Finally Pluto said, "Find that place where that anger resides, where that voice that sounds like you exists, and you shall know."

Kakyuu nodded slowly. She hadn't really expected the Star Dancer of the distant world of Pluto to give her an answer, but nonetheless, she knew it could have been a lot less straightforward. All she had to do was find that part of herself where the anger lived, and she would be able to pinpoint when the voice tried to twist her thoughts, to provoke another confrontation. She prayed to the stars that she wouldn't succumb to it again; that feeling of helplessness and pain as the Star Dancer of the galaxy had approached her, the beginnings of tears shining in her terribly pained eyes, the song of the galaxy's crystal falling on Kakyuu's deafened ears—she did not want to repeat the experience.

Most of all, she didn't want to know she had destroyed whatever bonds of trust that had existed between herself and Galaxia.

Kakyuu turned her eyes back to the faded light-pictures hovering before Pluto, still frozen, Galaxia struggling to contain the Star of Stars, Kakyuu covering her ears, trying to escape the Saffer Crystal's desperate melody of torment.

Pluto waved a hand, and the little images were moving again. "Watch," the Star Dancer instructed, and dutifully the princess of Kinmoku focused on the images, watching as Galaxia raised her arms, the light flowing from her straight for Kakyuu; red glass shattered with an explosive force and Kakyuu watched herself fall, sprawling in the remains of her shield that was fast disintegrating into fading red lights.

Galaxia approached, a vengeful star's angel of blazing light, and Kakyuu felt Pluto's eyes on her like heavy weights. "Watch closely," the Star Dancer of Time murmured, making the images slightly larger. Kakyuu narrowed her eyes, keeping her gaze on the flickering pictures. Galaxia stopped a mere step away from Kakyuu, and it was then that Kakyuu saw it—a sudden glow surrounding herself, the representation of her own power surging to the surface, guided by the voice of her other self, desperate to wreak havoc and at the same time driven by a desire to prove her own worth against the might of the Star of Stars—that drive was her own, she knew, and she felt ashamed.

The burst of red power surprised the Star of Stars, Kakyuu thought so at least, as the golden star-energy flared wildly as if in alarm; Kakyuu saw the dancing golden light that was Galaxia's shield flicker, solidify into crumbling pieces of golden glass that rained down beside the crumpled figure of Kakyuu. But more important than that, as the red power crashed through the shattering yellow glass Kakyuu saw one of Galaxia's hands rise at the wrong angle, and the tiny, intense glow that was the limiter on the galaxy Star Dancer's right wrist separated from her, flying off and striking the far wall.

The Saffer Crystal pulsed alarmingly, a blue glow fading into sheer white, as the star-energy within Galaxia leaped once, twice, before surging into plumes of white flames, half unchained from its heavy bonds. The left limiter's light glimmered, only managing to contain a little more than half of the Star of Stars' raging power. Galaxia stumbled, wings flaring out, the right feathers sheathed in dazzling white fire that licked at the stones.

Kakyuu slumped in place, now unconscious, and Galaxia dropped to her knees, hands clutching at the blue gemstone as if she was in pain, as if the Saffer Crystal was her anchor, the energy of the Star of Stars probably threatening to destroy Kinmoku—most likely starting with Kakyuu, who at that point in time wouldn't have been able to fight back even if Galaxia had tried to make good on her promise of the Star of Stars' punishment.

But at the last moment Galaxia seemed to regain some kind of control over her power, the Saffer Crystal a near too-bright star, and the Star Dancer of the galaxy staggered to her feet, swaying as if she might follow Kakyuu into unconsciousness, but then the Heart of the Galaxy's energy would have surely erased Kinmoku from existence.

Galaxia shut her eyes, wings folding around her as a brilliant white light, brighter than even the brightest of the white fire dancing in the courtyard, grew about her and then Kakyuu had to look away as the light surged into blinding capacity. When she looked back, the golden Star Dancer was gone, leaving behind the smoking rubble-strewn courtyard and Kakyuu herself, who was just beginning to stir when Pluto slashed her hand through the images and they faded away into the mists.

There was a long silence between them as Kakyuu thought of what she had been shown. Her hands curled into fists so tight she could feel her own nails digging into her palms. "I did that to her," she whispered, fighting the surge of self-anger. "I…I hurt her? I did, didn't I?"

Pluto watched her through guarded eyes. "The Star of Stars' energy is far greater than anything else in this galaxy," she began, looking pensive for a moment, as if considering how much to explain, and just how to explain it to Kakyuu in a way she could understand. "No doubt its Star Dancer has grown…accustomed to the feeling of lesser power. I have witnessed its full power exactly twice—the first time, sixteen years ago, when the Heart of the Galaxy first created a vessel within which to store its energy; the second time, two years ago, when an asteroid cluster, five uninhabited planets and countless lifeless satellites were destroyed in the galaxy Star Dancer's final attempt to do away with her darker self. The Star of Stars' energy is a dangerous power—but it is not often used; that alone saved you and your planet from being utterly consumed in the sea of white fire. That alone…but you still tipped the balance of power within the Star of Stars." Pluto paused a moment, narrowing her eyes. "You felt the Heart of the Galaxy's power once before. Can you imagine half of that energy trying to escape you?"

Kakyuu fixed her gaze on the Gate of Time, silent, feeling a muscle in her jaw twitching. She wrapped her arms loosely about herself, watching brief images flash across the stone doors. Unwillingly, the memory of the Saffer Crystal's all-consuming energy, how she had been all but overwhelmed beneath the weight of the crushing power of the Heart of the Galaxy; the blue jewel had contained that sea of white fire, she knew, and to think half of it running amok—she stared at the stone doors, begging them to tell her something, anything that might ease the weight of this horrible burden.

Kakyuu stared in surprise as an image of the galaxy surfaced against the myriad of other pictures that crossed the Gate of Time; the spiraling clouds of stardust spun away until the Star of Stars loomed in the galaxy's place, filling the entire space between the two doors. The fiery surface of the galaxy star seemed to move as Kakyuu leaned closer despite herself, picking out a vague shape somewhere within the heart of the star.

"Is that…?" The words slipped from her mouth as Kakyuu's eyes narrowed, struggling to keep the hazy figure in focus. Beside her, Pluto offered no confirmations, but the princess of Kinmoku at last discerned what the figure was when she spied the wings outstretched as if in flight, the tiny burning star that was the twin to the limiter held in her hands, the spiraling mark of the galaxy shining amidst the bright depths of the largest star in the galaxy.

"Galaxia," Kakyuu breathed, pressing one hand to the Gate of Time, at that moment not caring what the brief contact with the doors might do to her; as if brought to her mind by the touch of the ancient relic, sudden clarity burst upon her—the melody she had heard while mostly unconscious, the song that had driven her to awaken—it had been the melody that poured from the Saffer Crystal! It had called, Find me! Come!

And now she knew she had to answer it. It was not her crystal, not a star she was bound to serve…but she had to answer it nonetheless, for the sake of the Star Dancer she called—wished to be—friend.

She stepped back from the Gate of Time, her hand falling back to her side. "Pluto, will you—send me back?"

The Star Dancer of Time's eyes glittered faintly. "As you wish." She slid the key-staff into the keyhole, turning it a complete turn to the right and then half-turning to the left. She moved back as the Gate of Time swung open with a soft rumble. "Do not forget, princess of Kinmoku, that the End of Stars is coming, as is your moment of change. It would behoove you to keep that in mind as you continue your Star Dancer training."

Kakyuu nodded slightly, swallowing. She had almost forgotten the End of Stars in the turmoil. Still, she wouldn't forget it easily, that was certain. "I won't," she promised, moving through the doors and into the black void beyond. Slowly it solidified into a bright light that was growing and dancing—

The bracelet clutched in her hands began to feel icy-cold, an odd contrast to the rising warmth around her. Blazing white fire danced across her vision, the limiter's little Saffer Crystal sparking warningly as the tendrils of flame neared Kakyuu's skin. With a start, the princess of Kinmoku realized something:

Pluto hadn't sent her back to Kinmoku!