Chapter Sixty-eight: The Prisoners
Chibi-Usa was trapped in the lion's den, except the lions' mouths hadn't been clamped shut.
She lay on her side in the corner of the cell. Had never felt more helpless.
Zirconia had locked Chibi-Usa and JunJun in a cell inside of a mirror, the cell itself surrounded by mirrors. VesVes had been taken to "spend alone time" with the queen. Chibi-Usa shuddered for VesVes' fate.
At the opposite end of the cell, JunJun sat, hugging her knees to her chest. Sniffed and rubbed her eyes occasionally. Cursed softly.
Since the two were locked in the same cell, Zirconia and Queen Nehellenia must not think that they were a threat together.
Must mean that they were going to be killed.
Shouldn't Dead Moon have killed them right away? They must still be useful. If Chibi-Usa could figure out how they could stay useful, she could stall long enough to escape.
Chibi-Usa wasn't that smart, though. Even her mother would be resourceful enough to escape unscathed. After all, Princess Serenity had a kingdom to run. So did Chibi-Usa. She couldn't die here. Thousands of people depended on her.
Helios must be depending on her, too. Even if she wasn't the maiden he was looking for, she would help him. He couldn't have abandoned her and her friends.
Regardless, in front of her lay a teenager who didn't know who she was.
Chibi-Usa bit her lip. Surely, they were being watched. She wasn't going to talk about anything mission-related. She would talk to JunJun as a…friend? Ally?
"Um, JunJun?"
JunJun didn't turn. "What?"
Chibi-Usa stepped just behind JunJun. Almost wrapped her arms around the teenager. Tucked her hands at her sides. Too soon.
Promisingly, JunJun hadn't moved.
"I'm sorry about everything that's happened. I bet you blame me."
JunJun kept heaving. Hardly able to breathe, she was wracked so with sobs. "It's not your fault I was so weak that I fell for your tricks. Or whatever the hell that voice was."
Chibi-Usa sat, cross-legged. "Whatever voice you're talking about, that wasn't me. I don't have those types of powers. None of the Guardians do." Sailor Mars and Sailor Neptune kind of did, but they were exceptions.
"I don't believe you."
"There's no point in me lying to you now."
"Oh, yes, there is. You want me on your side in case we survive somehow. But we're gonna die." She whimpered. "By my own mother…"
JunJun must know that Queen Nehellenia wasn't her mother, but the queen was the closest she had to one.
JunJun peered at Chibi-Usa. "I wish I'd had a real mother."
"It's not too late. Princess Serenity is motherly. And Queen Serenity. They can be your new mothers."
JunJun blinked, eyes glistening. Wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Maybe." She blew out a breath. "My only mother abandoned me. All because I wouldn't do what she wanted me to do. Do real mothers do that?"
"Never. My mother hasn't liked some of the things that I've done, but she's never left me alone. She's always let me make my own decisions, no matter how terrible. She knows that I'll learn from them. Sometimes, she's helped me through the messes I made when she could've let me suffer the consequences alone."
"I see." JunJun tucked her head deeper into her chest. "What else do real mothers do?"
Chibi-Usa's heart softened. She placed a hand on JunJun's shoulder. "They hug and kiss you when you fall and scrape your knee." She closed her eyes, remembering. "They yell at bullies on the playground and then hug and kiss you some more. They read you bedtime stories and let you snuggle with them when you're afraid of monsters in the closet. They keep you safe when bad guys attack. They try to keep you from time-traveling to the past to fight." Chibi-Usa had confided to Diana, and the kitten spilled the beans to Luna and Artemis. The older cats told Chibi-Usa's mother. "They always know what's going on with you, even when you try to hide it. And then when you tell them, they just say that they were waiting for you to ask them for help."
"So many things," JunJun said.
"I could've gone on forever." Chibi-Usa hadn't been separated from her mother for long, but here she was, crying already. "We have to find a way out of here." She failed to steady her voice.
JunJun looked over her shoulder. "You're crying, too."
Chibi-Usa's laugh broke out as another cry. "Look at us." Sniffed once more. "We're both crybabies." Choked on her forced laugh. If only she could lose herself in her mother's embrace.
JunJun watched Chibi-Usa's shoulders heave. She crawled to the Guardian. Reached toward her, hesitated, and then embraced her. Chibi-Usa sunk into JunJun, hugging her back.
"Is this what it's like to have a sister?" Chibi-Usa said.
"Yeah. It is."
A scream and then barks of curses rumbled from above, debris falling from the stone ceiling. A slap and another crash shook the cell, and the cursing stopped.
JunJun pulled back. "There's VesVes. Even with Nehellenia, she's nothing but an idiot."
Trading insults. Must be what else having a sister was like.
"We really do have to find a way out of here," Chibi-Usa said.
"Can that horse of yours help us?"
"Yeah, but…" She could tell JunJun. Hopefully, there would be no judgment, like when Chibi-Usa talked to Puu.
No. Even though they'd grown closer, Chibi-Usa wasn't ready to pour out her soul to JunJun. They hadn't gotten to know each other.
Helios hadn't responded the last time she'd called. He might not respond this time, either, and she couldn't be disappointed again.
She had to be willing to be disappointed if she wanted a chance to escape.
"Okay. I'll call him. Just so you know, he didn't answer the last time. I don't know what's going on." Didn't want to unload her insecurities. Maybe Helios had decided that he wanted nothing to do with her because she wasn't the one.
In the Mermalair, he'd called her his maiden anyhow.
Couldn't be a fluke.
Couldn't overthink things. Setsuna said that men were simple creatures, and she knew everything.
Helios wasn't a man. He was…something other than a man. An ephemeral being.
She clasped her hands, dropped to her knees, bowed her head. Please, Helios, come and save JunJun and I. We need you now more than ever.
She stayed on her knees, a bead of sweat running down her forehead. Wind chilled the cell. Could feel JunJun's eyes boring into her, like Chibi-Usa was supposed to start glowing or grow wings to fly them out of here.
I'm praying for you with the powers of Elysion, my little maiden.
Chibi-Usa's breath hitched. Almost said his name but dared not in the enemy's territory.
What do you mean?
Elysion is where myself and King Endymion lived. It used to be much more powerful than it is now, but I'm still able to draw on its powers. I'm sorry that I couldn't come for you before. The underwater world and the curse have weakened Tuxedo Mask, whom I'm connected to. I've been trying to use Elysion's remaining powers so I can help you and the other Guardians, especially Tuxedo Mask. No matter what happens, know that you will always be my maiden.
Chibi-Usa placed her hands on her heart. Thank you, Helios. I… No, she couldn't do something as deep as loving him yet. She may be 901 years old, but what did she know about love? Besides, she hardly knew the guy.
Words that she had almost said in the heat of the moment, was all.
Chibi-Usa breathed, trying to compose herself. Took a final breath and then lifted her head. She looked at JunJun through blurry vision.
JunJun smiled.
Chibi-Usa moved toward JunJun to hug her but collapsed into her arms and sobbed.
They stayed that way for a long time, JunJun's presence making her worries about Queen Nehellenia, her parents, her fellow Guardians, the sea creatures seem small. Like everything would turn out all right.
Helios hadn't abandoned her. He was focusing all of his and Elysion's powers into saving Chibi-Usa and her loved ones.
Chibi-Usa thought that she was worthless when Helios believed strongly enough in her that he was putting the last of his life into saving her and her friends.
How judgmental Chibi-Usa was. Toward others. Herself.
Upstairs, wherever the queen and VesVes were, things had grown ominously silent.
Chibi-Usa drew back from JunJun. "What do you think they're doing up there?" she whispered.
JunJun shrugged and then rubbed her arm, averting her gaze to the side. "I have no idea. It's not like VesVes to be quiet."
Felt like they'd been in the cell for so long that the other Guardians could've finished clearing out the robots, restored the Chum Bucket, and found a way to Japan, destroying the barrier at the ocean's surface. Queen Nehellenia hadn't come to see them yet, even though the first words out of Zirconia's mouth was that the queen would be thrilled to see Chibi-Usa, JunJun, and VesVes.
Nehellenia had silenced VesVes. When would she silence Chibi-Usa and JunJun?
Footsteps clacked outside the cell. Zirconia's mug reflected on the mirrors.
JunJun scowled. "Old hag looks a thousand times uglier with all these mirrors. Damn, you have no good side."
Stepping to the bars of the cell, Zirconia grinned. "I won't have to listen to you insult me much longer. Once the queen gets her hands on you, you won't be able to do anything but be silent—finally silent—and obey." Her grin broadened, making her look centuries older. The Quartet had been right; everything about Zirconia was ugly. "Like your sweet sister."
JunJun's expression darkened, and she clenched her hands. "What did you do to her?" Veins protruded from her arms. Ready to punch the hag.
"I'd prefer to show you." She pointed to the cell's lock, and it clicked open. "Come." Turned again, her back to the two. Confident that they wouldn't attack or run.
Must be some reason for her confidence.
Chibi-Usa and JunJun had rammed themselves against the mirrors, the gate, the lock, to break free but bounced off. JunJun had launched a white orb, but the attack ricocheted off the mirrors, nearly decimating them both. They'd had to dodge the orb at the same time, the orb singeing them, until her orb had weakened and dissipated. Never again had they tried.
Here, Zirconia was too wide open.
Chibi-Usa was tired of not trying out of fear. She'd lost countless opportunities because she was afraid of acting. More often than not, she regretted what she didn't do than what she did do.
Problem was, Zirconia had disarmed Chibi-Usa of her Kaleidoscope and taken her weapon to the queen. The queen might have destroyed her father's gift by now.
She may be in her Guardian form, but Chibi-Usa needed her Kaleidoscope to attack. Should've taken Makoto's judo lessons after school. But no, she had to be a good student and focus on her homework, on problems that she'd never encounter in real life. Who cared that two letters added together magically equaled six?
JunJun splayed her hand toward Zirconia and launched a flurry of orbs.
Zirconia turned, eyes half-lidded, as though she were bored. "Of course." Her hands blurred, and the orbs popped in Zirconia's hands. "I'll be sure to let the queen know of your defiance. More punishment for you, more entertainment for me. You see, I don't think she'll have any more mercy on you, JunJun. She tolerated you before because you were on her side. Now that you're not, she has no reason to."
After that, Chibi-Usa and JunJun followed Zirconia in silence.
Zirconia stopped in front of an opening in the wall. "The way out." She stood to the side. "After you."
Chibi-Usa squinted. Beyond the hole was darkness. "We can't see what's through there. How are we supposed to know what we're stepping into?"
Zirconia pouted, folding more wrinkles across her face. "Don't you trust me?"
JunJun crossed her arms. "Is that a rhetorical question?"
"Ah, how sweet revenge is." She gestured toward the hole. "Go. Or else." Said the last two words mildly, like she was telling someone that she needed milk from the store.
Gulping, Chibi-Usa walked forward. JunJun quickened so that she walked ahead. What thoughts were running through JunJun's head? Was the instinct urging her to protect Chibi-Usa now, without awakening fully?
JunJun paused but kept going, hoping that no one saw her hesitation. Either for Zirconia, so the hag wouldn't think she was getting to her; to be strong for Chibi-Usa; or for herself.
JunJun stepped through the hole and disappeared into the darkness, like she'd never existed.
Chibi-Usa walked through, on JunJun's heels.
The crushing darkness was as solid as a boulder. The floor was there; Chibi-Usa was standing on something.
"I'm here," JunJun said. "In front of you."
"You think, you mean."
"Yes. I think."
"Scared?"
Chibi-Usa startled, whipping her head over her shoulder like she could see when only darkness lay in wait behind her. Zirconia must've closed the opening. The hag was somewhere behind them.
"Of course you are. Anyone would be. Our queen must be in a dark mood." She chuckled. Thing was, Zirconia probably wasn't joking.
"Serenity did give our queen the luxury of changing her prison's surroundings. Welcome to her humble abode."
Chibi-Usa didn't dare move.
A light glimmered, as small as a gem. Grew, icy blue eyes etching themselves in the darkness. Chibi-Usa's blood ran as cold as the blue eyes before her. Couldn't hear the footsteps as the woman approached, drifting through the darkness. She towered above Chibi-Usa, taller than Haruka. Her faint smile made her look no friendlier.
Let me guess. Our queen? Thank goodness fear tangled Chibi-Usa's tongue.
"Well, well. A former minion and a brat." Her eyes latched onto Chibi-Usa. "The one person standing between me and my inheriting the Moon Kingdom. I cursed Princess Serenity so she'd never inherit the kingdom, but I never did anything to you. My mistake."
Queen Nehellenia hadn't called JunJun her daughter. Had likely never claimed the Quartet as her daughters, the heirs of Dead Moon.
Thank the gods that the darkness hid Chibi-Usa's gulp.
"You think that the darkness is hiding your fear? I can see in the dark. So can Zirconia. I took that ability away from you, JunJun. You are no longer one of mine."
JunJun's breath stopped. Despite knowing that the queen wasn't her mother, didn't care a whit about them, she was still hurt by the queen's declaration.
JunJun had a snappy retort for everything. Not this time.
Chibi-Usa tried to still herself.
"You're not being successful, trying to hide your fear. In fact, your fear is quite beautiful to behold."
Why didn't Chibi-Usa's big mouth work when she needed it to? This lady could use a tongue lashing, no matter what hell she unleashed in retaliation. Her disowning JunJun, making the acrobat feel more unloved, was inexcusable.
Chibi-Usa forced herself to speak. "You're trying to make JunJun feel bad, like she doesn't have any friends, but you're wrong. I'm her friend, and I'll protect her from you, ugly."
Finally, Queen Nehellenia's smirk disappeared into a frown, the lines on her face becoming prominent. The woman didn't look old until others stopped complimenting her.
She thrived on others' compliments. Without them, she'd shrivel into nothing.
"Good thing you've been trapped in a mirror for centuries so you can check yourself out all the time. You're probably the only one who wants to look at yourself."
An icy hand snatched Chibi-Usa's throat, lifted the girl high. Her eyes pierced into Chibi-Usa's watering ones, twitching with the effort to stay open.
"Your parents didn't raise you well. Your looks don't betray the fact that you're an insolent brat."
Chibi-Usa hacked. The woman's grip was death. If she could've, she would've asked Nehellenia what kind of mother she'd been, lying to her daughters.
"Too bad you can't use your tiny mouth to spout off an ignorant response. The smallest of all the Guardians has the biggest mouth."
"Let go of her." JunJun must've finally mustered up the courage to talk back to her mother.
"You dare disobey me?"
"Like you said, I'm no longer one of yours." Her voice broke at the end.
The world threatened to bleed into black. Nehellenia was going to kill Chibi-Usa without a second thought. With her body being ice, she likely couldn't feel any emotion, much less remorse.
JunJun jumped, extending a fist.
Zirconia snickered.
Nehellenia raised her other hand, and a black blast erupted into JunJun's forehead, knocking the girl back. She slammed onto the ground, fading in the darkness as she slid backward.
"You're in my territory. I may be weak out there, but in here, I am everything."
JunJun wiped blood from her mouth. "Then how come you're too weak to break out of here?"
The queen tightened her grip on Chibi-Usa, like the Guardian had insulted her instead of JunJun. "You were right, Zirconia. Teenagers have mouths that are too big. They've served me well, though. I couldn't have gotten this far without them.
"To answer your question, yes, I am too weak. Once I have the Golden Crystal, I will be strong enough to breathe nightmares into this world. You'll have the honor of being my first victim."
Crimson bled into Chibi-Usa's vision. Nonsensical images of her parents, Hotaru, Puu swam before her. At least the merciful gods let her see her loved ones one more time before entering the abyss of the afterlife.
Nehellenia dropped Chibi-Usa. She slammed onto the ground—sharp like rocks—knocking blood out of her. She grabbed at her neck, partially to make sure that Nehellenia hadn't snapped it off. Her hands peeled off, and hot, viscous liquid stained her sailor suit.
Nehellenia had nearly bled her to death.
The queen glowered at Chibi-Usa. The Guardian said nothing.
"You've learned. Good." Nehellenia turned her glare to JunJun, the acrobat trying to climb onto her feet but falling. "Perhaps I should've punished you and your sisters in the same manner. You may have been right, Zirconia. I shouldn't have been so easygoing with them. I should've demanded respect."
"We respected you because we loved you," JunJun said, small and shaky. "We thought you saved us. That's why we helped you, not out of fear."
"Are you suggesting that a queen doesn't need to instill fear in her subjects?"
"Is that all you thought of us as? Your subjects?"
Nehellenia laughed. "Look at you two. Pathetic."
JunJun crawled toward Chibi-Usa.
"Like nothing more than the animals you are. Zirconia."
"With pleasure." Zirconia's expression of being happy was more nightmarish than her expression of being angry. Her face coiled upward, twisting up more wrinkles. She pointed a finger. A black beam crashed into JunJun, and the former Dead Moon Circus member yelped. Still, she crawled toward Chibi-Usa.
"Why do you want to save her?" Zirconia pointed another finger toward JunJun. "She hasn't helped you at all."
"She has." JunJun gasped, could barely talk. "More than you ever have, you ugly hags." Emphasized the "s".
Zirconia's face contorted once more, but she was used to being called ugly.
Clearly, Nehellenia was not.
A storm brewed on Nehellenia's face. She pointed her splayed hands toward JunJun and shot. The black funnel engulfed JunJun in hollers.
Chibi-Usa blanched. Had to save JunJun. No matter what connection they had had in their past lives, JunJun was her friend.
Without her Kaleidoscope, they were at Dead Moon's mercy.
JunJun felt.
She felt more than she ever had. Like when she'd defected, purging herself of Dead Moon's evil, a veil had been torn off her heart so she could feel again. Had begun when the veil started to be pulled back in Kelp Forest.
Once the beam slammed into JunJun, the emotions of betrayal, loneliness, being an outsider intensified.
She was not an outsider. Chibi-Usa remained at her side. JunJun's duty was to faithfully stay at Chibi-Usa's.
She would not perish here. Never, while Chibi-Usa lived. Never would she leave Chibi-Usa alone again.
Here is not your destiny.
The blackness overtook her, yet peace replenished JunJun. Peace with herself. Peace with her newfound role, with being separated from Nehellenia and Zirconia and Dead Moon. She would be the first and then show her sisters the truth.
Show me.
The memories washed back, overwhelming. Accompanying Chibi-Usa to dances, galas, banquets, sometimes prominent, for all to see that the princess was being protected at all times. Sometimes in the shadows. Always with her, as sure as the sun rising each day.
The Chibi-Usa in front of her, struggling, trying to save her protector, was not fully awakened. Since she was not fully awakened, then JunJun could not fully awake, either.
But she could awake just enough to save Chibi-Usa.
She reached. She had no phrase to trigger a transformation because she was supposed to be always transformed and ready to protect.
Help her. Chibi-Usa was the only one who mattered. To help Chibi-Usa, JunJun needed to be helped. For the future of the Silver Millennium.
She closed her eyes, and the power showered her, lifted her out of a centuries-long slumber induced by the demon before her.
The power wouldn't be complete until Chibi-Usa awakened fully, but it was enough to save them now.
A soft green glow surrounded her. Her Amazonian clothes didn't dissipate. The ones her wretched "mother" had given her. The ones declaring her as property of Dead Moon, not part of the Sailor Team's family.
Even though JunJun had awakened a little, she wouldn't have proof that she and her sisters were of the Guardians, not Dead Moon.
She balled her hands. She'd wield the power to hurt Nehellenia as much as the woman had hurt her and her sisters.
To the naked eye, JunJun reached toward emptiness, but to her awakened ones, she reached toward the power. Being a part of something greater. A kingdom, not destruction.
She grabbed, and it overwhelmed her.
You are not who she named you. You are not JunJun.
I am no longer JunJun.
The glow brightened, and she emerged. Stood, planted, in front of her princess, her duty, arms crossed, white orbs glowing in her hands. Nehellena loomed before her, but the woman seemed small compared to Juno's charge. The scowling woman's ugliness surpassed Zirconia's.
The other hag hovered, like a shadow, behind her queen.
"Zirconia." Nehellenia's voice was a glacier. "You were supposed to keep them from finding out."
"Y-yes, my queen." The first time Juno had heard Zirconia's voice tremble.
"We will speak later. For now, redeem yourself."
Despite her newfound powers, Juno couldn't defeat Nehellenia and Zirconia by herself. Even with Chibi-Usa's power, she couldn't. If she could find VesVes and reveal the beast tamer's true self, her true name…
Juno's eyes sharpened, and the world grew clearer. Her glow permeated the darkness, enough to find VesVes while protecting Chibi-Usa.
"Come with me." Juno grabbed Chibi-Moon's hand, and they ran. Nehellenia snarled, but Zirconia flitted before the two, Zircon, her pet eye, fluttering above the hag's shoulders. From her finger, Zirconia blasted out a beam. Juno darted sideways, Chibi-Moon keeping in step. Zirconia loosed beams more quickly. Dodging, Juno darted toward Zirconia and Nehellenia.
"Are you trying?" Nehellenia said.
Zirconia croaked. Splayed both hands toward Juno and Chibi-Moon.
"Don't worry." Juno swung Chibi-Moon in front of her and then grabbed the princess' shoulders. She hurled Chibi-Moon forward, past Zirconia, past Nehellenia, and then flung herself past the hags, awash in a green glow, like she was a comet. Zirconia released a yell that was cross between a bleating sheep and a howling wolf (ferocious like a wolf, yet as subservient and mindless as a sheep). Juno tumbled, righted herself, and then bounded to Chibi-Moon, grabbing her charge and stopping the Guardian's flight. They hurried forward, into the darkness.
Despite the skulls around them, indicative of Nehellenia's killing mood, Chibi-Moon gaped at Juno.
"Protecting you is my duty, Princess." A simple explanation for a simple charge.
Chibi-Moon croaked.
Juno smiled wryly. "Don't go sounding like that old hag. You may be centuries old, but you're still eons younger than Zirconia."
A blast of black seared the stone floor inches away from Juno and the princess. A response to Juno's insult.
Juno had angered Zirconia. Or Zirconia was driven by fear of Nehellenia. Good.
Juno swiveled, facing Zirconia but still running through the darkness. She drew an arrow of light from her chest.
"Like Sailor Mars," Chibi-Moon said, eyes wide. "Then, you…"
Juno unleashed the arrow in a flurry of light, unruly because Juno hadn't fully awakened, lighting skulls along the arrow's path. The Jungle Arrow, taking back the false place of birth that Nehellenia had given Juno and her sisters. She'd use Nehellenia's tactics, what the "queen" meant for evil, for good instead.
The arrow split Zirconia's black beam in half so that the beam's remnants crashed into the ceiling and the ground simultaneously, bones rattling and clanging to the floor. Juno swiveled once more, facing the direction in which she and Chibi-Moon ran, her glow lighting their way. For good measure, Juno loosed another arrow and felled piles of bones, covering their path. Juno's distraction should keep Zirconia and Nehellenia occupied while searching for VesVes.
Her telltale fiery hair fanned feet in front of Juno and Chibi-Usa.
Thankfully, the hair wasn't detached from her head—a very real possibility under Nehellenia's wrath. VesVes lay, eyes open but blank, mouth hanging. Like she was dead.
Juno hadn't felt her die. VesVes may have failed, but she remained valuable to Dead Moon. With Juno's "betrayal," Nehellenia needed all the help she could get.
Juno knelt beside VesVes, as did Chibi-Moon. Even though VesVes had tortured the Guardians, Chibi-Moon was still concerned. Showed that Chibi-Moon was true, not Nehellenia. The woman would've never shown mercy to former enemies.
Juno shook her sister by the shoulders. "Wake up, Ves…" Didn't want to use the name given by their captors.
VesVes' eyes fluttered. She closed her mouth, smacked it like she was sleeping, not having nearly been killed, as evident by the bruises blossoming on her midriff, her arms raked with scratches, where Nehellenia must have dug inside VesVes' arms. VesVes winced, holding her head. Muttered a string of curses.
VesVes wasn't often quiet. Indicative of how much damage Nehellenia had done to her.
"Ves…Ves." Until Juno learned her true name, she'd have to settle for the falsehood.
"VesVes," Chibi-Moon joined in. Hoping her voice would trigger VesVes' awakening?
VesVes' eyes shot open, homed in on Chibi-Moon. The beast tamer growled, and she grabbed for Chibi-Moon. Chibi-Moon drew back, but not before Juno clutched VesVes' arm, primed to break it.
VesVes may be her own sister, but she was willing to do anything to protect the princess.
"You…" VesVes remained focused on Chibi-Moon, face scarlet with rage. "You're the reason the queen did this to me. Why she hates me." She tried to reach toward Chibi-Moon but jerked toward her instead, Juno's grip unrelenting. "If I give you to her, then she'll love me again."
"So many things wrong with what you just said," Juno said. "True love doesn't count all the things you've done or vice versa. Even the ways you wronged me. You're only thinking of yourself. You want to hand-deliver Chibi-Usa to Nehellenia because you're afraid of losing your own life. You have to understand, Nehellenia never loved us."
VesVes ground her teeth. "You disrespectful bitch. You turned against us for no reason."
"A very good reason."
VesVes released an inhumane yell and tried to punch Juno but only jerked. Juno was too strong, as steady as an oak tree.
"Damn you."
"You're only going to tire yourself out. Let me tell you the truth."
"You don't realize that they've brainwashed you?"
"I could say the same to you."
VesVes glared at Juno. Her empty eyes cemented that she wasn't close to awakening.
A crash echoed down the hallway, and broken bones skidded toward the three.
"I can explain everything to you," Juno said. "The easy way or the hard way. Trust me, the easy way is better." The easy way involved running and hiding and Juno explaining everything. The hard way involved facing Nehellenia and Zirconia, placing Chibi-Moon in danger. On the bright side, VesVes might awaken more easily if Chibi-Moon's life was threatened.
VesVes screamed, animalistic.
Juno let go of VesVes' arm and then pushed VesVes behind her, onto the ground. She took a battle stance.
The hard way it was.