Disclaimer: I think you've figured it out by now.
Fun Fact: Apparently, Galaxia's Sailor Crystal is called the Saffer Crystal. That will be important.
A/N: There is actually a slight territory war going on in the den right now, not over the computer but the one chair in here. That's why the long pause…that and I didn't really get rolling on this chapter until yesterday and then it was an all-out flood. So anyway, mucho thanks to Bin82501 (this should be less of a shock to the system, I hope), Lalaith Yamainu (trouble always follows, but I like to try and make it trouble you did not see coming), My-Crazy-Awesome-Sox (I'm trying to get back into drawing so there may, someday, be pictures, but none now, and cliffhangers are kind of what I live for), LoveInTheBattleField (sorry! just turned 30, had a rough time with that, but I am writing again and I will try to do better), Agata (the next chapter will be NOW! hehe), Astrakelly (why so surprised I would cruelly give you a cliffie? should have been up last night but apparently I need to sleep and work and stuff, so sorry for the delay), kawaiishiella (so glad you love it and, again, so sorry it's taken so long), Fiery Dancer (no, don't give up! see, here's a cookie!), and Alexis Winn (NO LIVE ACTION! then it just gets very confused, and we are closing in on the finale, and Minau and Usagi are up next) Aw, heck, you're all awesome!
It had taken a good deal of resolve for Galaxia to walk away from dinner with Setsuna and Absalom. She was not very hungry, having, unlike her partner, dared to try the food on Cyllene, but though he did not attract her she was shrewd enough to realize that Setsuna enjoyed Absalom's company more than many others. The smile in her garnet eyes as they turned to the Prince caused Galaxia's stomach to clench painfully. She knew Setsuna kept a special smile for her as well, she just did not know which smile meant more.
And if it turned out that the smile for Absalom went deeper…
Whatever she wants, she will have. I'll make sure of it.
Galaxia sighed wearily and dropped her helmet onto a table as she contemplated ordering food. It seemed like a great deal of bother and she had grown so used to sharing her meals with Setsuna that eating alone felt almost…desolate. Strange, considering how long each of them had lived such solitary lives. Perhaps that was the draw between them, nothing more than a shared loneliness.
I'm only lonely when she is gone.
She shook her head to rid her of these dark thoughts, unbinding her brilliant hair. There was one other reason she had retreated so readily to her room, a promise she had made to the one person as lonely as she and Setsuna. She could never break such a promise to such a desperate little heart.
As if on cue her door opened just a crack, and two dark eyes peered in at her with a timidity that Tamar had never shown before.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course," Galaxia said with some surprise. "You didn't ask last time."
Tamar shrugged as she inched through the door. "Last time we weren't friends. You can't burst in on a friend. You have to respect their space, Absalom says. I brought you something."
Galaxia raised her eyebrows as she sat down on the edge of the bed, adding a little smile in an attempt to put the child more at her ease. "Something for me? What is it?"
"It's a lynka," Tamar told her as she held out her hand. Something dark and slightly mangled, as though she had been carrying it for some time, lay in her palm. "It's my favorite dessert. The people in the Tower don't like you so I thought maybe they don't give you dessert."
"Tamar," Galaxia murmured, "I would love to have a lynka. Thank you."
The smile that blossomed on Tamar's face stunned her, full of a sweet delight that changed her from a haughty Princess to an engaging little girl. She immediately hurried across the room to put the strange food into the older woman's hand, then watched anxiously for her reaction. Galaxia took a glance at the lynca, which looked somewhat like an overcooked pastry, and tried an experimental bite. Only her concern for Tamar's feelings kept her from spitting out the bitter concoction that slowly oozed across her tongue. She swallowed it with good grace and managed a little smile that she hoped conveyed gratitude and appreciation without betraying her disgust.
Apparently, she failed.
"You don't like it," Tamar guessed, one eyebrow cocked up in disbelief.
"No, no, it's delicious, really!"
To Galaxia's surprise Tamar began to giggle a little. "It's alright. Absalom says that only people born on Geshur like them. He thinks it has something to do with gravity or how close we are to the sun, but I think it's just because other people are weird. Since you aren't from here I didn't know what you would think." Anxiety crept into her eyes as she studied Galaxia's face. "It really is my favorite. I brought it because I think it's the best of all."
"Then by all means, finish it for me," Galaxia laughed as she handed it back. "Come on up here next to me. We can talk better, don't you think?"
The glow in Tamar's eyes at the invitation sent a jab of fury through Galaxia, aimed at the four Sailor Soldiers of this system and even their Prince. They should be the ones laughing over this disgusting dessert and giving her a hand so that she could climb onto the bed without dropping her treat. She thought of the Starlights and Kakyuu, how they fought and teased one another, and the easy camaraderie of Setsuna's sister Senshi, and could not imagine any of them cutting their Princess from their lives. Should not the Senshi of the Geshur system be teaching her to fight and rule and stay clear of boys?
"Where were you?" Tamar asked around a mouthful of lynka, calling Galaxia back to the present. Dark crumbs fell down into her quilt but she ignored them to settle more comfortably, leaning back on her elbows so that she could still see the child's face.
"We went and met more Senshi," she explained. "A different system this time, a place called Cyllene. They are going to send their Queen Maia to Earth to be with Setsuna's family, along with one of her guardians. The others will stay on Cyllene in case there is an attack so they can protect the people. That's a hard choice for a Queen, you see. Her duty is to protect her system and all the people there so you would think she couldn't leave. But this time the enemy isn't after just one system. That's why so many Senshi are going to Earth, to Setsuna's home, like Miri did."
Something flashed through Tamar's eyes at the name, something harsh and cold that startled Galaxia. Then she remembered the tiny glances between Sailor Lejah and Absalom, the way Absalom waited for her opinion before making any choice. There was an understanding there deeper than even his relationship with the other three. A child, she guessed, especially such a lonely one, could see this as a threat. So Galaxia ignored the look for a moment and reached over casually to chase some of the crumbs off Tamar's skirt. The look faded quickly enough and she saw the change in Tamar's eyes as she considered the rest of what she had been told.
"Do lots of Sailor Senshi go to Earth?" she asked.
Galaxia tried to shove away the memory of the last time two systems worth of Senshi had come together on Earth as she said, "It's only happened once before, that I know of. There's a lot of space between stars with planets, and not all those planets have Sailor Senshi. It's hard to get from one to another and it risks putting their kingdoms in danger. It's just not…practical."
"But it used to happen," Tamar argued vehemently. "Tsifira and Talmai had another Queen come here, and then Talmai fell in love with her and married her and he went back to her system with her."
"He did?" Galaxia muttered. The story was not familiar, and as she was the oldest living Senshi this surprised her. Perhaps it was merely a Geshur bedtime story but curiosity won out and she probed for more. "Who…who exactly was Talmai? I had thought he was Tsifira's husband, maybe."
Shocked horror flashed across Tamar's face. "Ew! No! He was Tsifira's twin brother!"
"Oh! Makes a bit more sense."
Galaxia sat up again to pull one leg onto the bed and began to unbuckle her boots. She could not place the name Tsifira, but Geshur had not been much of a concern for her until Chaos sent her on a quest to destroy every kingdom in the galaxy. Probably Tsifira had been one of the Queens not long after the Sailor Wars, someone she never would have known, though it seemed strange that there would be movement between the systems after the Wars. It was then that the systems had truly closed their gates against each other, sometimes metaphorically and sometimes, like the Silver Millennium, literally. The other boot joined the first on the floor and Galaxia settled back again to muse over how different Geshur was from so many other systems.
"Are you mad?" Tamar asked suddenly, regaining Galaxia's attention.
"What? No! Why would I be mad?"
"Lirita doesn't like it when I don't think her answer is right."
Galaxia had begun to truly dislike the tutor and her questionable priorities. "Well, I'm not Lirita and I'm pretty sure you know a lot more about Geshur than I do."
That strikingly sweet smile returned and Tamar leaned back on her elbows just as the older woman did. A flash of mischief made Galaxia casually cross her legs at the knee. A second later the Princess did the same, her little white shoes barely dangling over the edge of the bed. Galaxia rolled her shoulders to stretch them and let her head to hang back while keeping a watch on Tamar from the corner of one eye and grinned when her movements were mirrored. Those dark eyes flicked over and met Galaxia's, attempting to look mature and unconscious of her behavior, but the look only made Galaxia begin to laugh. Tamar's face hardened and closed down to hide any form of hurt until a hand fell on her shoulder with an affectionate squeeze, and the mask dissolved as she, too, began to giggle.
When the laughter had subsided Tamar slid a little closer and looked up hopefully. "Tell me more about Cyllene. What were the Senshi like? Did they…did they like their Queen?"
"They were all very close," Galaxia admitted slowly, "but they were all almost the same age. You know, there are some of the Senshi from Setsuna's team that are older than their Princess, and they sometimes treat her like a little girl, too."
Tamar frowned thoughtfully over this, then cocked her head and leveled Galaxia with a suspicious look. "But do they like her?"
There was, she realized, no way around that. "They like her very much."
Another long silence followed this as Tamar stared blankly ahead. Her face gave nothing away and Galaxia wondered achingly how such a small child could already have learned that trick. Then she looked up at the Senshi with eyes far too wise for her age and asked her a simple question.
"Is something bad going to happen to me?"
"Where in the cosmos did you hear?" Galaxia demanded, an image of her own hands wrapping around Lirita's throat flashing through her mind. If that idiotic tutor had said something about the Abyss to this child…
"I'm not stupid," Tamar huffed, rolling her eyes. "Everyone's always fighting on the Council, because Papa's friends say that someone else is Absalom's Papa-"
Galaxia blinked. How many secrets were there on this planet, and why could no one seem to hide them from a six-year-old child?
"-and some people say that doesn't matter because my Mama was still his Mama, and a whole bunch of people say that I shouldn't get the Crystal at all because my Mama was a…a whoor, I think they said."
Galaxia's eyebrows shot straight up but she did not feel the need to correct Tamar's vocabulary error.
"That made all the Senshi and their mothers yell a lot, so I guess it wasn't nice. Then everyone started shouting at each other and people were yelling at Absalom to take the Crystal off, and someone said something about the Senshi, that they should be…disbanded. What does that mean?"
"Um…" Galaxia floundered. "Sweetheart, how do you know all this?"
"There's a room behind where Absalom sits and you can see everything from there," Tamar answered cheerily. "I sometimes go there to watch, and I knew Lirita wouldn't know because she gave me reading to do on my own, which means she's going to spy on the meeting from her own place."
"You know that Lirita spies on Council meetings, but you haven't told Absalom," Galaxia said, attempting to clarify the situation. When Tamar nodded she closed her eyes and sighed. "Why?"
"Because if she can't spy anymore, then neither can I."
Galaxia had absolutely no way to argue that logic and just shook her head as the rest of the information did cartwheels around her brain. Senshi disbanded. She tried to grasp the idea but it slipped and slid through her shaking fingers. Earth was strange enough, its Senshi hiding their identities and serving from the shadows. But this…a solar system with Crystals unclaimed, or worse, doled out at the whim of mortals. And who would be in charge of such a system? Sivan's pale eyes flashed through her mind, cold and calculating, and send a needle of pure terror through her heart. The planets would not be treated as trinkets doled out to his favorites, but even Galaxia could not imagine what chaos would result from the attempt.
"Tamar," Galaxia said slowly, "even if the Council is fighting, why do you think something is going to happen to you?"
"They don't like Absalom so they want to get rid of him," Tamar reminded her. "They don't like the Senshi so they want to get rid of them. They didn't like my Mama so they got rid of her. Csilla thinks someone poisoned her, because there is no other way to take a Crystal from a Queen than for her to die. If they want the Geshur Crystal they'll poison me, too, and Absalom won't be here because they'll make him leave the Tower, and you won't be here because you'll be gone with Sailor Pluto, and the Senshi don't like me so they won't try to protect me."
For a moment Galaxia added Sailor Trachonitis to her list of women on Geshur who needed to be throttled before she remembered that Tamar had probably been spying when she heard the poison theory. The possibility that the Queen had been assassinated added another level of fear to the whole mess, though. Geshur had always been teetering on the edge of unrest, it had made it easy for her to walk through and destroy them before, yet she had never realized how out of control things had become.
But Tamar knew. She knew the angles that were being played, and the factions pulling her from all sides, and though those around her called her a Princess, she was merely a pawn. Everything could be taken from her, by politicians or Senshi or her own father, and as far as she knew, the only people on her side were her brother and a woman who was almost a stranger.
"Can't I go with you?" Tamar said suddenly, in a little voice as fragile as glass. "I could go with you and Sailor Pluto and meet the other Queens and Princesses and Senshi, and I could make friends, and you wouldn't let anyone hurt me. Right?"
For a second Galaxia almost said yes. Never had she wanted so much to break every rule. She could so easily whisk this little girl away from danger, and Setsuna was wonderful with children, she would know how to make Tamar happy, and it would all be alright. Let the Council destroy itself, let the Tower crumble, let them sink into chaos if they wanted to, but she could save this one child.
That's not enough, the Senshi in her whispered. The galaxy is in peril. She is precious, but that's not enough. We need her here. We need her power.
Galaxia's mouth twisted in pain as she realized how true this was.
"Why don't I…I'll talk to your Senshi, and we'll think of something. I promise, sweetheart," she murmured. "Oh, Tamar, don't cry."
The tears had already begun to cascade down those round, childish cheeks, but not in a temper tantrum or in anger. Never had she seen anyone look as tragic as Tamar as she pressed her hand to her mouth to stop the sobs that so desperately wanted to escape. Her whole body shook, though, and she could not control it. Galaxia sat up beside her and stretched out her hand, but again she paused, afraid and uncertain how to offer comfort.
Then Tamar let her hand slide away and whispered, "I don't want to die."
Galaxia snatched her into a fierce hug, her fingers clenching those tiny shoulders so tightly she might leave bruises. Tamar did not protest, just threw her arms around the older woman's neck.
"You are not going to die," Galaxia growled against her ear. "Do you hear me? Absalom and your Senshi won't allow it. I won't allow it. Do you understand?"
She felt Tamar's head bob against her shoulder as she tried to nod.
"Good. Because I mean it."
The child relaxed into her arms and continued to cry, tears rolling down Galaxia's armor until they fell onto her bare legs. She settled Tamar properly in her lap and let her long hair fall around them both in a shimmering cocoon. A moment came back to her; she and Setsuna pleading with Anyuta for understanding and the door exploding open to an angry Princess. Now Galaxia knew what lay at the heart of her anger, the terror that had haunted this child, and as she remembered Sailor Aram and Sailor Trachonitis pressing their hands over their ears she very nearly hated them.
A tiny movement by the door brought her head around even as she hunched more protectively over the bundle in her arms. She expected Setsuna, but hoped for Absalom, or even better one of the Senshi. A rage she had never known before, completely for only one person in all of creation, had her nearly gnashing her teeth and longing for a fight. Instead she found herself confronting an unknown woman. A green and gold gown brushed the floor and hung off a tall, frighteningly thin figure with marble white skin. Black curls tumbled over her face as it moved back and forth in quick painful twitches. Galaxia could barely make out a full mouth so dark it looked bruised, and she could not see the woman's eyes. The stranger took a teetering step further into the room and turned her shoulder to them, as though she did not see them at all. A jolt went up Galaxia's spine and crackled in her head with one thought: there was danger here.
"Who are you?" she demanded through her teeth, gently easing Tamar's arms from around her neck as she pulled her legs under her. Senshi reflexes should give her an advantage to stay between the stranger and the Princess but instinct warned her she would need every second possible, and she did not question her instinct.
Finally that hidden face turned towards them and the dark lips turned up in a smile.
"Ah," the woman whispered, her voice the thin hiss of dry leaves against each other. "How interesting. A Crystal Holder."
Galaxia blinked uncertainly. The term was strange, both alien and familiar at the same time, like a line from a long forgotten book. It echoed with importance and power and something else, something like a salute. Recognition, maybe, or respect, and yet dripping with menace.
"I did not ask who I was," she shot back. "I want to know who you are, and what the hell you are doing in my room."
By now she had maneuvered her body in front of Tamar's, but she could feel small fingers biting into her sides and a second heart hammering against her own ribs as the child watched over her shoulder. Galaxia was poised to lunge until Tamar's gasp shattered her concentration.
"Mama?"
The stranger's fragile neck tipped back and her hair fell away to reveal her face.
Those black curls…a broad catlike nose…a gown in the royal color of Geshur…Tamar's whispered secret last time…
"Mama is not really dead."
"How?" Galaxia demanded. "How are you not dead? Your Crystal has been passed one, you should be dead, you should…Blessed Cosmos."
"What?" Tamar whimpered. "What is it?"
"Her eyes."
Eyes she knew better than her own, eyes she loved so much it hurt sometimes…
Eyes the rich red of garnets.
"That's…not my Mama, is it?"
"Poor child," the creature murmured through Queen Yovela's mouth, and Galaxia realized her lips were the dark color of a corpse's. "She was fierce, your mother. She fought us to the end, until we seized up her lungs and stilled her heart. Why, she even took a knife to herself to try and cut us out. Brave woman. Are you as brave, little one?"
"Tamar," Galaxia whispered, "get ready to run."
"Run where?" Yovela asked politely. "Don't you see? We are everywhere. Slices and slivers of us, working our way beneath the skin before you even know we are there."
"What are you?" Galaxia demanded. "What did you do to the Queen?"
Red eyes raked over her face with a sickening hunger as the monstrosity moved closer, her limbs jerking like a dancing puppet. "The Queen taught us a valuable lesson. We can have the body of a Crystal Holder, but not the Crystal. I think I will leave you your skin. I have a form that will work well enough. So…I'll just peel your flesh off until I can rip your Crystal out of your heart."
A dangerous grin slid onto Galaxia's mouth. "Oh, my dear, you picked the wrong Senshi to try that on."
Yovela lunged with a speed that seemed impossible in her half-dead body. Instead of dodging Galaxia raised an arm to take the brunt of the strike while her other reached behind her to thrust Tamar aside. She heard the child cry out in terror once and then her enemy was upon her, and she had not time for any thought but survival.
Her arms moved fast, faster than even Galaxia's, and her nails dug deep. The golden armor, a manifestation of Sailor powers, held true against the fingers scrabbling for her chest, but Galaxia felt the bare flesh of her arms and face curling open under the slashing claws. She locked the pain away through long experience and struck out fast, her fist slamming into Yovela's chin and snapping her head back. There was not even a flicker of pain on the Queen's stolen face and the assault barely slowed. There was a tiny hesitation as Yovela lost balance, though, and it bought Galaxia another precious second to get both feet under the body on top of hers and push up, hard.
The other woman hit the floor tangled in the glorious green and gold gown, closer to Tamar than Galaxia had foreseen. Already the oldest Senshi was flinging herself onto the floor in a low crouch, her attention divided between Queen and Princess and her entire body trembling from adrenaline and shock. From the corner of her eye she could see how badly her arms were slashed, she could feel the blood rolling down her face, and then she pushed that away. A Senshi's body could take ten times the beating a normal mortal could. A sound of tearing silk came as Yovela's sharp fingers shredded the skirt and flung it out of her way.
Galaxia did not wait for the next attack. She moved fast and low, spitting out blood to snarl, "SAFFER BLADE!"
Brilliant blue light flooded the room and then coalesced into metal that burned against the palm of her hand. A blade of pure power left a smoking gouge in the marble floor as Galaxia slid on one knee through her own blood and sank it deep into Yovela's torso. The blade fractured into a million darts of light and burst, throwing the struggling Queen back against a wall.
She crumpled, smoke and the disgusting scent of burnt flesh rising from her torn stomach. Before her body hit the floor Galaxia staggered to her feet and seized Tamar, her blood spattering the child's green and white dress. Though Tamar was tall for her age she weighed little, especially when Galaxia was fueled by desperation. She had the Princess in her arms and halfway through the door when a slender hand wrapped around her throat and jerked her backwards. Her back hit the floor hard and her arm, badly jolted, fell away from Tamar.
"No," Galaxia whispered as she tried to push herself up. "Tamar, run!"
Yovela was on her again, long fingers sliding under the chest plate of her armor. She watched in horrified disbelief as a tiny crack appeared at the neck. Galaxia grabbed Yovela's arms and struggled to pull them away. Sinews and tendons strained under her hands as they fought, equal in strength, but she feared this undead creation could beat her in stamina, and her blood continued to poor out. Even a Senshi needed blood.
"NO!"
Green silk and white lace appeared around Yovela's neck. It took a moment for the image to make sense, and then it sent a fresh wave of fear through Galaxia. Tamar had leapt onto Yovela's back and seized onto her throat with one tiny arm. The other wrapped over those garnet red eyes, fingers as long and delicate as Yovela's sinking into the Queen's black curls and holding on tight.
"You're not my mother!" Tamar howled. "You leave her alone!"
"No, no, Tamar, don't!" Galaxia gasped as Yovela shook her head angrily, trying to throw the child off. "Run, get away!"
"No!" Tamar shouted. "You're my friend!"
"Damnation!" Yovela snarled, yanking one arm away from Galaxia's chest. The change in direction came too fast and Galaxia could not switch her own hold. The hand came free and bent back in an angle that should have been painful to grasp Tamar by the back of the neck. Tamar came free and slid across the floor with a pained shout.
"You, brat, will go the way of your mother," the creature snarled, darkness swirling through the scarlet eyes. "A shell for another of my kind. At least it will give meaning to your pathetic, short life."
"I am not pathetic," Tamar snapped as she sat up. "If you were really my mother you would know that!"
"A sniveling little whelp," Yovela hissed, "an embarrassment to Geshur's bloodline."
"No!" Tamar pushed herself to her feet and held her hands out uncertainly before her. "I am Princess of Geshur, and you are a bad lady, and I will punish you!"
With her attention on the child, Yovela's weight shifted slightly and Galaxia threw herself to the side. The other woman fell off her only to roll easily across the floor and come up on her feet. It took twice as long for Galaxia's weakened arms to push her upright but she managed, staggering sideways until she hit the table. She heard her helmet tumble to the floor and felt Yovela's eyes on her again.
"GESHUR BURNING ICE!"
Galaxia's eyes flashed automatically towards Tamar, still standing with her hands spread in front of her as so many other Senshi did. Without a Crystal, though, the gesture and the words were empty and did nothing but draw Yovela's attention. A low laugh came from her throat and struck the child like a slap as Tamar gazed in despair at her empty hands.
"The words are not enough, child. There must be power, and you have none."
"SAFFER SHURIKEN!"
Her weakest attack, but Galaxia did not want Yovela's eyes on Tamar any longer. The blue stars flashed across Yovela's face and opened long gashes that did not bleed. Instead, underneath, the bone was black and shining like glass.
"You…you monster," Galaxia breathed. "What are you?"
Yovela ran a finger along one cut with a slow grin. "Yes…your power…a Crystal…I must have a Crystal."
"Never," Galaxia growled.
A hand flicked, brushing her words irritably away. "You say monster, but we were gods once. We will be again. And I will be stronger than all the rest…when I have your Crystal."
The Saffer Crystal burned hot and angry inside Galaxia, eager it seemed to continue the battle with something so fundamentally wrong. Power flooded her body down to her fingertips, the words danced on her lips, and one syllable almost fell free. Something moved against the far wall, though, and she suddenly remembered Tamar. The child was too close, loyally and foolishly refusing to flee, though she could do no more than watch, one hand pressed to her chest and a fierce frown carved into her brow. The full brunt of the Saffer Crystal might very well crush her tiny body.
Galaxia forced the words back and offered Yovela instead a cocky smirk. "I can do it, you know."
The emaciated face twitched. "Do what?"
"Take Crystals. I took hundreds, you see. So beautiful and powerful and mine for the taking like shells on a beach."
"You're lying."
"Oh, no. Ask anyone on Geshur…or any other planet. I've done it, and I know the secret."
"Tell me," Yovela hissed eagerly, taking a quick step forward. "Tell me how to take Crystals and I will let you live. I will even spare the brat."
Galaxia considered her a moment, and then laughed.
"Come and get it, bitch."
The beautiful face, a frightening caricature of Tamar's, contorted in rage and madness, and a high scream of fury erupted from her mouth. Her claws were already curved and aiming for Galaxia face while the Senshi seized the table and prepared to swing it with all her might. She fell back a step to give herself more room and braced her feet, her arms tensed…
"GESHUR BURNING ICE!"
Green light streaked across the floor, curling and cracking like frost on water and leaving a trail of emerald flames. It wrapped around Yovela's legs, her arms, and then her chest, setting the remnants of her gown alight before a burst of pure light filled the room. Her body hit the ceiling with a disgusting crack and plummeted back down to the floor. Galaxia's eyes flew to Tamar, still leaning against the wall, only now the hand pressed to her chest was clenched around the Geshur Crystal flashing with light and life, and her eyes were huge and stunned.
"Good girl," Galaxia gasped with a smile. "That was amazing, sweetheart. Now—oh, hell."
Something black stained the floor where Yovela's body had hit and her arms waved where they should not, whatever had replace the bone was definitely broken, yet she clamored once more to her feet. The flesh along one side of her face was burnt to ash and she raised a damaged hand to swipe it away. Beneath it was the shining black glass or crystal, but instead of a skull, there was another face. A man's face, with the same high cheek bones and slender nose as Setsuna but twisted with a snarling grin until it was hideous to behold.
For the first time Tamar screamed, high and terrified, and it took all of Galaxia's will not to do the same. Those precious features defiled made her stomach roll and the fire of the Saffer Crystal double, pressing against her ribs and begging to be released. With one hand she gestured yet again for Tamar to flee and this time the child gave way, staggering backwards out of the room. Vaguely she heard voices, Absalom shouting for his sister, but she kept her eyes on her enemy and finally gave into the demands of her Crystal.
"Galaxia!" Tamar cried out in the corridor.
"That bitch—!"
"Absalom, wait!"
Setsuna's voice brought the blackened face around and caused a brilliant light in the red eyes across from her, but the words were already tumbling from Galaxia's mouth on a flood of power.
"SAFFER GALACTIC HEART!"
Blue and gold and white light swirled like mist and crackled like lightning and sang a strange, low tone more felt than heard. It spun around the tips of her fingers like a tiny galaxy, and then it shot out, sharp and hot as a nuclear blade, slicing straight through the creature in the middle of her chest. The two halves fell apart and something between a scream and a roar flung Galaxia backwards. She hit the wall behind the table and dropped with little more than a groan, the last of her strength having been fueled into that attack. Even as her head swam and blood flooded one eye she kept the other on the body and waited.
Then a hand was on her shoulder and another was swiping blood away and she caught a very different pair of red eyes staring down at her in horror.
"Galaxia, oh blessed Chronos, what's happened to you? Please, please, stay with me."
"Setsuna," she breathed. "Be careful. It's behind you…"
The other Senshi looked quickly over her shoulder at the ruined figure of Geshur's Queen, but it did not move and she turned back, her fingers soft on Galaxia's cheek.
"It's over. It's all over now. Absalom, please, get help, why are you just standing there?!"
"Is that…Sweet Sheiramoth, that's my—"
"No, she's not!" Tamar shouted somewhere far away. Everything was beginning to seem very far away. "She's a bad lady, or not a lady at all, but help Galaxia!"
"Setsuna, you're safe," Galaxia breathed, sliding one hand up her partner's arm. "When I saw those eyes…but you're safe."
"Of course, and damn it, Absalom, move!"
"Here, let me see!" a sharp voice said, and then a flash of bronze satin and green eyes and Sailor Aram was beside her. "Oh, wow, that's not good."
"Sippora!" someone shouted.
"Well, it's not!" she yelled back. "Csilla, what are you doing?"
"The dress…it has to be, but it can't be! Her face!"
"Who cares?" Anyuta snapped from the doorway. "Get the Princess out of here now! Absalom, I'll stay with Sippora and Pluto, you go with…where's the Crystal?"
"It disappeared," Setsuna said, her voice nearly overlapping Tamar's cry of, "I have it!"
"How…just go! Out!"
"LOOK!"
Galaxia could not tell whose voice that was, but under Setsuna's elbow she saw fingers twitching against the marble floor. Several pairs of feet scrambled back as one of Yovela's arms twisted free of the ruined gown and began to crawl forward, pulled by blood-encrusted nails. For the first time Galaxia saw all the flesh of that one arm, and sunk deep into the crook of her elbow was a black wound, dark streaks tracing the veins around it and poisoning the young Queen. Csilla had been right, after all.
The creature that had taken over Yovela needed nothing more than that wound, and whatever lay beneath it.
"Stop it," Galaxia gasped as she tried to push herself upright. "Kill it!"
She saw small white and purple boots start forward (Anyuta), and then heard a ripping sound. Every muscle in the room froze as they watched the very air split open like overripe fruit to show living darkness, roiling and squirming against the deepest black in the universe. Galaxia groped inside for her Saffer Crystal, saw Setsuna's hand dart towards her staff, but the twisted hand skittered forward and into the rip and disappeared with only a little sigh of sound.
The silence that followed was heavy and thick and Galaxia was afraid to move until, finally, she realized there would be no more attacks.
For now…
Anyuta's voice cracked over them again, bringing the others back to life even as Galaxia slumped exhaustedly to the floor.
"Csilla. The Princess. NOW!"
Burgundy pants fluttered past, Tamar cried out, and for a moment she tried to rise and go again to her aid. But Setsuna was stroking her hair and promising her everything was fine, and she knew Setsuna would never lie to her, so she let her head fall across her partner's knees, her hand coming up to grip one calf, and her eyes closed.
