"Mercury Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Mars Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Venus Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Jupiter Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Saturn Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Neptune Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Pluto Stellar Power Make-up!"

"Uranus Stellar Power Make-up!"

Once transformed, the Inner and Outer senshi split up. The Inners decided that they would go and rescue Tasuke and Chiyo. Ken protested that he should help save his sister and best friend, but Hakeru reminded him that he was chief of operations for the armed forces, and he had to protect his kingdom. The Outers agreed to fight back against the attackers with him.

Terror gripped the minds of Sailors Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. Their duty was to protect the High Princess Imbriana, and she could already be dead. And Tasuke was with her! Where they to lose two senshi in one day? Outside the palace, explosions and yelling could be heard. Smoke was rolling across the ceiling now, and they assumed that part of the palace had to have caught fire. The foundation of the palace growled again and rumbled beneath their feet, toppling a seven-foot statue of a past king. Kei grabbed Mikomi just in time to keep her from being crushed underneath the heavy marble. They blazed past windows and winced, as they had to ignore the other pleas for help. Umi stopped to stare at a terrified child, crying for his parents. He wandered around the side of the hallway screaming for his mother, tears spilling endlessly down his red cheeks. She stared, horrified, until Koushi yelled at from up the hallway. As they blazed past shattered windows and doors ripped off their hinges, the Senshis' minds were a blur.

(Koushi) Maybe the shrine protected them. It could have withstood that blast. . . maybe.

(Umi) How many tons of marble, stone and wood made up that wing? At least 3 000 tons for Chiyo's room, plus the lack of windows. . .

(Mikomi) If Eidre attacked this wing of the palace first, she must have known somehow that we had been there. I don't think that it was just dumb luck.

(Kei) We shouldn't have left her alone. We could have just failed at our life's mission because I was so emotional. If I hadn't left, no one else would have.

The shrine is very powerful. It could have gotten out with very little damage. . . but what if Tasuke and Chiyo. . . what if they left? What if they weren't even in the shrine?! Koushi ran faster.

Chiyo's room is a third of the size of the shrine. No, probably closer to one-fourth. And most of the rooms on that wing are close to the same size, right? 3 000 multiplied by four. Multiply that by thirty-eight rooms.

How could she have known? What was it that tipped her off? No radar can detect us while we're inside the palace.

I can't let this happen. I have to find Chiyo, no matter what. I'll give my life for her. She has too much to live for.

Suddenly there was no more ceiling, with nothing but rain and stone all around them. They stepped out onto the flattened ground, which was concealed by black and gray stone and burning wood.

There's nothing standing.

Over 456 000 tons of building material on this wing. . .

Wait. the Kings and Queens have trackers for their children.

Chiyo! Oh my God. . . please be alive!

Everything had been leveled in the blast. Their faces expressed total awe; nothing had been spared. Over fifty people were working here when the blast hit, not counting the Prince and Princess. Mikomi covered her mouth in disbelief.

Queen Toshaido!

"Oceans Rising!" they heard, coming from the Eastern side.

Into the rain, Kei whispered. "We have to find them."

Their search began in frenzy. The girls split up and ran, calling out Chiyo and Tasuke's names. Koushi lifted up enormous blocks of wood and stone as Umi peered under them. She turned on her visor and scanned the area.

"There's to much rubble around," she shouted to the others. "I can't get a clear reading."

Mikomi looked for any sign of color; Chiyo's red hair or her lavender gown, Tasuke's tan skin. but all she could see was the bleak and rainy graveyard of stone. Lighting crashed nearby.

Umi bit her lip and kept rechecking her visor. Something was interfering with the signal. "Come on," she whispered.

Koushi tossed a block of granite several times larger than herself to the side of the disaster area. Kei slid down a chunk of marble floor and looked hastily around from the base of it. "Chiyo! Tasuke?!" she shouted.

Koushi threw another mass to the side, and wiped her forehead. "Umi, I know that there's something you can do! We need your scanner!" She yelled, getting frustrated.

Mikomi saw something glimmer faintly as another lighting bolt struck the ground nearby. She gasped.

"Chiyo?" she could barely whisper. She started working her way towards where she had seen the small light. "Chiyo!" she said louder. Kei's attention snapped towards her with the way Mikomi said Chiyo's name.

"Miko?" she called, questioning.

Mikomi broke into a run. She stumbled across boulders and fiery wood pieces, scraping her legs and hurting her ankle. Pain shot up her leg into her back but she didn't care-Chiyo was almost within reach now, she could save her. . .

The others came running. "Mikomi! Is it her?"

Mikomi kneeled down slowly, gazing at what she had found. She reached out a hand and stroked it softly. It felt cold.

"Miko!" Kei said as she finally reached her side. Kei looked down at what Mikomi was touching, and her face fell. Soon after, Umi and Koushi arrived.

Mikomi bowed her head and picked up Chiyo's necklace from the dirt. A crystal rose? When they last saw Chiyo, she had been wearing it.

Koushi's hand went to her neck. "Oh God." The senshi were too stunned to speak. For almost a minute their heads were swimming, trying to absorb the impossible. In the distance, bombs and cannons exploded and thousands of people shouted their war cries. Among those cries they could hear their colleagues, the Outer Senshi, fighting with all their hearts. Doing their born duty. The thought tormented Kei.

"We can't. . . she should have." Kei couldn't make a sentence. Koushi held her head low and cried very quietly. Mikomi gripped the crystal necklace and cried aloud. Umi covered her face with her hands.

The rain was pouring now, splashing heartlessly on their backs. Lightning struck everywhere around them and made the ground beneath them tremble with energy each time. The wind had picked up and was now gong almost thirty miles an hour, whipping their skirts and hair around them. The silence suddenly broke.

"NO!" Yelled Kei. "DAMMIT!" She cried, screaming at no one but the rain clouds. She threw rock off into the distance out of frustration. As another silence started to fall over them, Kei collapsed to a kneeling position next to Mikomi, who hadn't stopped staring at the necklace. "No." she said again, weakly.

A small beep from Umi's visor startled them. Umi jumped and read the symbols the popped up before her eyes, followed by little arrows.

"What. . ." she began to say. She slowly turned to her left, until the arrows pointed straight ahead. She looked out into the rainy blackness and saw nothing. Koushi looked feebly towards where Umi was staring.

"What is it?" Koushi asked.

Umi shook her head. "It's nonsense. Just jumbled letters. Stupid visor," she stated. She twisted her earring and the visor vanished. She rubbed her eyes. The girls were soaked, shivering from rain and emotion. The world suddenly seemed too cold.

Koushi gasped loudly.

Kei and Mikomi stood up at once. Umi reverted her gaze to where her visor had pointed.

A gray figure was emerging from the storm. As they watched, the shadow limped towards them. As it got closer they noticed. . .

"Carrying" was all Mikomi could manage to whisper.

The Senshi at first could only bring their heavy feet to walk slowly across the rubble. But as they got closer they felt her energy, and began to run. He was getting closer but still seemed miles away, like they would never be able to get to him. Umi laughed out loud with relief and cried with joy as she sprinted towards the shadow.

"Tasuke!" she yelled.

He looked up at her, slightly smiling as always. His face was weak and he was bleeding badly from his shoulder. His cloak was torn and he was very dirty. He looked like he would collapse at any moment.

But in his arms, looking like a sleeping angel, was Chiyo.

Koushi took Chiyo from Tasuke and let him sit down on the ground. Mikomi sobbed and started taking care of Tasuke's wounds, thanking him profusely. Umi helped Koushi check Chiyo over for injuries. Kei stood back and stared. She was stunned.

Chiyo. She thought to herself. She breathed out heavily, gazing down on Chiyo's face. Chiyo was still alive but unconscious, with Koushi cradling her head and Umi monitoring her pulse. She had been ashamed at the thought of failing her mission as an Inner Senshi. But what scared her more was that her little Chiyo, who was more like her sister than anyone else she had ever known, might be dead. She had felt immensely guilty for leaving. But something about the subtle expression on Chiyo's silent face made her think of just what Chiyo would say to her at a time like this:

You're very strong Kei. But you're too rough on yourself! Sometimes things just happen that no one can help, and we have to accept that.

Kei was overcome by the wave of relief, and for a moment all she could do was watch the Moon Princess dream.