Hikari-No's Promise
Chapter Eleven
Sailor Coruscant stood gracefully, not letting her emotions show on her face. And yet, those nearest her took a step back at seeing her ice-blue eyes, which seemed to radiate the heat of her anger.
"The princess is dead", she said in a flat tone.
Catherine is dead, her thoughts screamed, you came to late to prevent any of this, you were too afraid to save her when you had the chance. You kill everyone you love. You killed Ura-Giri, then you killed Catherine.
She had to find out who it was that had done this, that was what was important. She would bring them to justice and sort out this mess on Domus Prime. Then she could grieve. For now, her heart had to be like ice, she needed to be able to think clearly if she was going to sort this out. Even if she was no longer a Jedi she could still act like one. It was her responsibility.
She looked up at the guards who had been there with her, though none claimed to have seen what happened. Trying to remember all that she could about the Royal Forces of Domus Prime, Sailor Coruscant singled out the one whom she thought was the highest ranking officer. He was clearly upset, and seemed to be genuinely grieving for Catherine. "Captain?" she asked him.
He nodded, grey eyes filled with tears. Sailor Coruscant thought about what Catherine had told her of the problems here. She searched through his thoughts, to see if the emotion he was showing he truly felt.
"Who did this?" Her voice was as ice, soft and inexorable. He could not meet her gaze.
"We do not know. She had wanted to be alone for a time, and we stood guard outside, until we heard her scream."
She was not surprised that no one had seen what had happened to Catherine. The one who had done that would clearly have been used to hiding in shadows, to not being seen. She would have to find him, but for now she had to deal with the council.
She looked down at her hands, without her gloves. Some of Catherine's blood had soaked through them and stained the fingers of her left hand. "Are there any Jedi in the Palace?" Her voice was little more than a whisper of fear.
The Captain seemed to think about it for a moment. "There have been no Jedi here for many months, my lady", he said finally. Sailor Coruscant nodded silently, and it seemed a long time before she spoke again.
"The princess has been murdered, and I intend to bring her killers to justice. Will you support me in this?"
He heard the tone in Sailor Coruscant's voice, and met her gaze for the first time. "Of course, my lady", he said with fervour.
"And what of your troops? Will they follow?"
She looked over at the other soldiers, some male, some female, but all clearly upset. And she saw the way they were looking at her. Idly, Sailor Coruscant wondered if it was her costume or her manner that inspired such thoughts of sudden loyalty.
A female soldier who held what she thought was a low ranking stepped forward, bowing to her. "We are loyal to Domus Prime. The princess must be avenged."
If it had been anyone else who had been killed, her Jedi side might have taken over again and forced her not to think of vengeance. As it was, it sounded like a good idea. Let them all die, a small part of her whispered, and the sigil under her tiara glowed for the briefest of instants. She fought for control over her emotions and won.
"Take me to the place where the council of Advisers are meeting. And be prepared for anything."
He started leading the way deeper into the palace, away from the throne room. The two handmaidens stayed behind, to keep silent vigil over Catherine's body. After a few minutes of walking in silence, the Captain turned to her. "My name is Brican, my lady", he said in a soft voice, expecting an answer. She sighed.
"I am Sailor Coruscant, Captain Brican", she said, scanning ahead with a probing thought. The council members would probably be heavily guarded, she thought regretfully, hoping against hope that she was not making a error in confronting them.
She prayed to the Force that no-one else would die this day, although a brief premonition told her that this would not be the case. The anger in her heart made her wish that it she would be the one to draw any more blood this afternoon as she passed a window and looked out at the serene gardens below. They would all pay for what they had done.
"I do not mean any offence", the captain said, softly, trying to keep the apprehension out of his voice, "but that is a strange name. What does it mean?"
She sighed, wondering herself for a short while. "It is a title", she said aloud after thinking about it for a time, then whispered to herself, "the promise of power to be unleashed."
The closer they got to where it was that they were headed, the more heavily guarded the passages seemed to be. Sailor Coruscant wondered if her small force would even be able to make it to the council chambers without being stopped. After she had passed a number of four heavily armed guards, fortunately without being questioned, Sailor Coruscant stopped, turning around to the group as a strange thought occurred to her.
"What do the people of Domus Prime say about the council taking power for themselves?" Her voice sounded empty and seemed to echo down the passage which was only lit by the rapidly-disappearing sunlight.
There was silence. "Very few people are happy about it, save for the merchants and politicians", spoke up a smaller man, and she noticed that his hair was greying slightly. Out of the fifteen soldiers he appeared to be the oldest if not the highest ranked, and the others seemed to respect his opinion. "I am not sure if it is the lack of monarchy or the fact that the council's act goes against the Domus Prime constitution, but a lot of people will support whatever it is you intend to do here tonight."
"What do you intend to do?" Captain Brican asked softly as she thought about what the older man had said.
"I will give Domus Prime back to the people to whom it belongs", Sailor Coruscant said softly, as she realised that there did not have to be bloodshed for her plan to work, although it may not be avoided. "What about the rest of the Royal Forces? Can we trust anyone else in the military to be on our side?"
"It's hard to say", Brican began, shaking his head. "The highest ranking officers are being payed directly by the council members to ensure their loyalty. In the past week they've become little more than mercenaries. You will find them closest to the council at all times. But if you give the rest of the Forces an order they will probably follow it, simply because a lot of them don't like what is going on."
"Good", Sailor Coruscant smiled coldly, gesturing to the older man and the young woman with white hair at the back of the group who had been crying for Catherine. "What are your names?"
"I'm Lieutenant Parks", said the man, smiling back and fingering his blaster eagerly.
"'Shandra." The girl sounded fairly bored, but there was a glint of excitement in her eyes that showed much promise. Sailor Coruscant had a feeling that 'Shandra would be a valuable asset in the times to come.
Sailor Coruscant nodded at the two of them. "You two are our recruiting officers. Whenever we pass a guard, I want you two to persuade them to join our cause. If they choose not to, disable them. I do not want anyone interfering with this, but try not to kill anyone. I will be very disappointed if you do. The rest of you, be prepared for trouble, I sense a disturbance in the Force."
She reached out a thought, wondering at the sudden chill in the air. Something beyond these matters with the council of Advisers was wrong here on Domus Prime, and she intended to find out what it was.
"Lead on, Captain."
By the time they had reached the last corridor to the council chambers, she was followed by at least fifty members of the Royal Forces. Several of the men only seemed to be with them because 'Shandra had unbuttoned her shirt most of the way and kept making odd gestures towards Sailor Coruscant, who suspected that 'Shandra was making sure they all noticed her dress, or lack thereof. Still, maybe a show of force would be all that was needed to get her into the council chambers. She prayed to the Force that there would be no fighting.
Outside the door stood fifteen guards, and they all seemed to hold a rank of captain or higher. Sailor Coruscant did not slow down, remembering what had happened to Catherine and keeping the fire of her anger burning. All that mattered was that she would bring them to justice by any means necessary.
She would not let anyone or thing stop her, she thought, calling the Crystal Staff to her hands and feeling the warmth of its touch. Several of her followers gasped at this display of talent, but she did not pay them any notice, walking purposefully towards the guards who had seen her by now.
"Let me pass", she said in a deathly quiet voice to the one who decided to approach them. He was a tall man, but his mind was weak, and she could quite easily override his will if she had to. She hoped it would not come to that.
"Go home, little girl", he sneered at her, "the Palace isn't a place for children."
A faint spark of light flashed at the top of the Staff, and it seemed to Brican that Sailor Coruscant's eyes grew colder, though her expression did not change.
"You will let us pass, now, or I will arrest you on charges of high treason against the crown of Domus Prime." He still stood in front of her, yet now he drew his blaster, realising that this 'child' was serious in her demands, but thinking little of her threats.
"There is no crown of Domus Prime anymore, only the council. You should go home, child. I would hate for anyone here to be hurt."
"I agree", she said simply, "but sometimes it simply cannot be avoided."
She moved quickly, using the Force to speed her movements as she spun the Staff around and knocked the blaster from his hand to the floor. The second spin of the weapon caught him on the side of the head, and the guard's eyes glazed over. An instant later he slid to the floor, unconscious.
As if this was a signal, the other guards drew their weapons and started advancing on her group. Brican and the others took up defensive positions behind some of the more ornamental decorations of the grand hallway, and the Captain fired off a number of shots with his blaster, but before anyone could retaliate Sailor Coruscant slid one hand up to the point of her staff.
"Destiny Shield", she said softly, calling on the power within her in an instant that lasted for an eternity, forcing it to spread outwards, so that a glowing barrier separated the hall into two sides a meter in front of Sailor Coruscant. Though a number of the guards tried to shoot past the blue wall of light, all the energy from the bolts was absorbed by it, and as she took a step forward, the wall moved with her.
Upon realising that the guards' weapons could not reach past the barrier, several of the members of her Forces stepped back out to flank Sailor Coruscant, Captain Brican and 'Shandra amongst them. Brican stretched out a hand curiously towards the wall of light.
"I would be careful", she said softly, not moving her hands from the staff and taking another step forward. "I am not at all sure what it would do to you. I would not like it if you disappeared in a puff of smoke."
He smiled nervously at her as he drew his hand back. "Me neither", he said in a small voice, "Smoke's not much good at fighting."
Sailor Coruscant did not smile back. "I ask that you join us peacefully", she said to the soldiers at the other end of the hall, as she stepped over the inert form of the one she had knocked unconscious and continued walking forward. One of the men took a step back inadvertently. "We have no desire to see anyone else die today. If you side with us, we will let you go on serving in the Royal Forces. If you do not, you will be imprisoned until such time as you can be court marshalled. In any case, I would really appreciate it if you all dropped your weapons, otherwise I might just do something nasty and fry you all in a blast of energy unlike anything you have ever seen before."
Sailor Coruscant's voice so sounded sweet and reasonable that even though it was still full of anger Brican had difficulty believing that she would follow through on her threat. She turned her head a little to smile at him, sensing his doubt. She tightened her grip on the Staff.
The spark of blue light at its tip intensified into a glowing ball of energy, and she moved the Staff so that it was pointing away from the people, at a statue at the end of the hall beyond them. Sailor Coruscant did not bother to sight it properly, or to call out any incantation as she released the power. She forced it out through the Staff, and made it move through the air towards the statue with a thought. The statue exploded, decorating the far end of the hallway with debris.
"Who wants to be first?" Sailor Coruscant asked pleasantly, and as one the soldiers dropped their blasters. One also removed a number of explosives from his pockets. She allowed the shield to fall then, and made a small gesture behind her to the Royal Forces.
"Get their weapons, and bring one of those detonators to me." Sailor Coruscant spoke with authority, as her mind still tried to plan ahead enough for her to foresee what would happen once she was inside the council chambers. She could feel the Force flowing through her body, pulling her towards the door, but as she thought about her feelings, she realised that she no longer knew if it was the Force that was guiding her or her anger, but it did not matter, so long as she knew which path to follow. She only hoped that she had chosen the right one for everyone.
And now she had fourteen prisoners to deal with, for even though all of them had surrendered peacefully, she did not trust them. "Assign someone to watch over this group", she told Brican, who nodded, glad to have something to do. He barked a few short words at three of the men behind her, whose blasters had already been trained on the guards at the door. They saluted to her as they passed, and she shook her head slightly. They should not be saluting her.
'Shandra stepped forward also, gathering up the various weapons from around the floor, her long white hair draping down in front of her body as she did so, which was probably just as well, considering how little of her shirt remained covering her skin. She walked back to Sailor Coruscant, and solemnly handed over a detonator and the corresponding charges.
Sailor Coruscant held both in her right hand, and kept the Crystal Staff in her left, holding it away from her body at an angle. She sighed deeply, slight fear casting a shadow over her anger, though she could not identify its source. For the briefest of instants she realised that the trials she would face this day had not yet begun.
"Follow me", she said as she stepped up to the door after a moment's thought, "And be watchful."
Captain Brican touched her shoulder reassuringly, and she looked at him in surprise. "May the Force be with you", he said, perhaps to give her comfort, but she found little in what he said, for the familiar expression only reminded her of what she had left behind in coming to Domus Prime. Sailor Coruscant repeated his words without emotion to the entire group, before nodding to herself, and opening the door.
The council chambers consisted primarily of a large room with many sunlit windows, and at least half of the room seemed to be filled with a large table, around which were spaced thirteen ornate chairs, made of some sort of wood that she did not recognise. Eleven of them were occupied by the blue-robed councillors, who seemed to be arguing when she arrived in the room.
All speech stopped at her arrival, and for a moment she stood in the doorway holding the attention of all, letting them take in her strange appearance in her Senshi uniform. Sailor Coruscant tried to ignore the thoughts that occurred to several of the councillors, instead waiting for the right moment before moving. A familiar face at the back of the room caught her eye, and it was almost with relief that she realised that Jester looked miserable where he sat juggling a large number of red balls for the amusement of the councillors.
One out of the many guards around the room drew his blaster and she stepped forward, allowing Brican and his troops to enter the council chambers also. They moved quickly, and only the first guard to have moved was able to get off a shot, wounding one of the members of her Royal Forces. The woman went down with a cry, but it had barely grazed her arm, and so she stood again, training her own weapon on the man who had fired upon her.
In a few moments all of the guards stationed around the room had been disarmed and taken into custody. She noted idly that they were all highly ranked members of the military. Sailor Coruscant was glad that only one person had been hurt, for it had taken most of her attention at that moment to distract all of them and slow their reactions enough to try and ensure that no one was hurt. She walked down the two steps to the main floor of the room, still holding her Staff in her left hand. Sailor Coruscant rolled an explosive into the center of the table, and one of the councillors stood, outraged.
"What is the meaning of this?" The man seemed to be about fifty, with greying black hair and green eyes that were full of anger. His robes did not seem to fit him very well, for he appeared to be overweight and lethargic in his movements.
"I am placing the Domus Prime council of Advisers under arrest on charges of High Treason", Sailor Coruscant said politely to him, though he had been looking to Brican for an answer.
There was a murmuring around the table, but she silenced it with a wave of the detonator. "By not allowing the election of a new monarch for Domus Prime, you have all defied the constitution of this planet, and the laws of the Republic can be brought to bear upon you. These state that you will each end up spending most of the rest of your lives in a jail on Coruscant, unless you submit to my authority, in which case you will be imprisoned for a few years here, and never be involved in politics again. I ask you all to think very seriously about your choices, since I know that the Courts do not take kindly to people like yourselves, especially considering your plans for the neighbouring star systems."
Her final comment brought not a few gasps from around the room, and a part of her was glad that Catherine had been right about the ambitions of the council. It made it much easier on her, although she had to restrain herself from giving Captain Brican the order to kill them all.
Towards the far side of the room, a man in a black uniform with gold shoulder decorations stood, drawing a weapon. "I suggest you do not fight, Grand Admiral", Sailor Coruscant said, forcing her will upon his so that he could not move.
Suddenly she felt a ripple in the Force, centred at the seat farthest from her, in which a figure dressed entirely in black sat, his head covered by a hood that would not allow her any sight of his features. Sailor Coruscant could do little about it at this moment, but she would have to find out who this person was soon, she suspected.
The leader of the military did not even blink as Sailor Coruscant used the Force to pull his weapon away from him. It landed at her feet, and she kicked it behind her some distance. He turned to her, smiling politely in a manner that chilled her. She knew almost instantly that she hated the Grand Admiral of Domus Prime.
"Dear child", he said, his voice overly sweet and ingratiating, "what in the Force do you plan on using against me? Those charges you laid against the councillors will not work on me, I was simply acting on their orders, which is supported by the constitution. I am afraid you will find that I have done nothing wrong."
With a smile, he walked away from the council table, towards the door, but he stopped on his way out to smile at the one at the end of the table. He came up to Sailor Coruscant and patted her cheek, smiling innocently. "Do call me if you need anything, I will be most happy to oblige." He looked around the rest of the room with a smile, taking in the faces of those in the Royal Forces who had decided to join her. "As a sign of good faith, I won't even court martial this motley lot for helping you."
He swept from the room then, and Sailor Coruscant made no motion to stop him, knowing that he although the Grand Admiral was indeed cruel and possibly even evil, he was not the one behind what was taking place here on Domus Prime. He was simply supporting the change in power, and acting under the orders of the council of Advisers, which was his duty in the absence of a monarch here. She would deal with him later.
Beside her Brican hissed slightly in anger, as one of the councillors glanced down at the far end of the table, looking for a signal from the one dressed in black. Though she could see no sign, Sailor Coruscant was not surprised when the councillor nodded to the others, and they all stood, turning to her. "We surrender", one said with a mocking smile.
"Good", she was not sure what was going on, sensing only that the one in command of this situation was the figure at the back of the room. It was he who caught her attention, and she would not remove her eyes from him.
As several of the councillors took a few steps towards the doorway, one of them gave her a knowing smirk, and she hit him lightly with her staff. He cried out in pain, but no one paid him any heed, save for 'Shandra who dragged him to his feet and pulled him towards the door. Sailor Coruscant blinked her eyes slowly, trying to sense what it was that this one in black wanted from them. She was only partially surprised to realise that he was hiding himself from her searching thoughts, he must have some ability with the Force to be able to do that.
Her thoughts returned to Catherine, and anger flashed in Sailor Coruscant's eyes. A spark of light appeared at the end of the Crystal Staff, and she could feel the interest radiating from the one at the back of the room. She curtailed her display of power, suspecting that she would need every surprise she could muster. This was the one she would have to defeat to be successful here on Domus Prime, the council was of little importance to her anymore, for she knew that he had been manipulating the council.
"You will not be able to stop me from arresting the councillors on charges of High Treason against the Princess of Domus Prime." Her words were a warning to the one at the back of the room who had not moved. She could tell that he was the one controlling this situation, she could sense fear in the councillors as she spoke to him.
"It does not matter", he said, "take them away. They have no real power here on Domus Prime, they were not the ones who killed your princess, and you and I both know that."
"Take them away", she said to Brican, echoing the other one's words, "and leave us alone in here." She suddenly had the feeling that the one at the end of the room was smiling at her. Her eyes did not leave his cloaked form. "Lock the doors", she told the Captain, "and if I do not emerge in five minutes, detonate these charges."
She held out the detonator to him, and gingerly Brican took it, gesturing with his blaster at the council members. Slowly, they walked from the chambers, followed by the members of the Royal Forces that she had subverted. Jester was the last to leave, giving her a curious glance and a worried smile of encouragement. Then Sailor Coruscant was left alone with the figure in black. A loud click told her that the door was now locked.
The one at the end of the room stood up, and pulled his hood back slowly. His face betrayed him to be much older than her, but she suspected that his apparent physical build hid a vitality that frightened her. His dark brown eyes worried her the most, they seemed to draw her in, to capture her attention so that she could not think of anything other than his gaze.
He stepped away from the table into the large empty space of the rest of the room. He removed his cloak then and looked her up and down with a sneer. "Nice outfit."
Sailor Coruscant had to stop herself from automatically blushing. She focussed all her attention on returning the favour. He was dressed in black robes, like a Jedi's, only not quite. It was then that she saw the lightsaber at his belt. "You are a Sith", she said, as a number of things clicked together in her mind.
He laughed, the sound sending a chill down her spine. She reached for her lightsaber, igniting it and knowing that there was no way she could avoid this fight and live. "It seems only fair that you know the name of the person who is going to kill you", he said, "I am Darth Blade."
She felt a powerful jolt, of premonition and remembrance. For an instant, she saw the face of a young man, and heard the sound of a girl's promise.
'If Blade ever comes back, I will protect you from him.'
She looked up at the Sith, new horror showing on her face. "The Riddler", she whispered too softly for him to hear, her eyes widening in shock.
He looked a little surprised at her strange behaviour, before snarling and leaping towards her, igniting his lightsaber. Though she could hear the harmonics caused by the sound of his lightsaber resonating with her own, she could see no blade protruding from the end of it. Sailor Coruscant had only ever heard of the stealth lightsaber, she had never known anyone who could fight with one due to the unpredictable nature of the weapon and the high skill level that was required to use it. And as she quickly examined the handle of the unseen weapon she realised that it had two blades. Closing her eyes, she tried to sense where the blades were, since she would not be able to see them.
Sailor Coruscant parried the stroke easily, trying to remove her thoughts from the subject of a young man with dark hair, eyes that seemed to drown her in their depths and a friendly smile. She had to concentrate on this fight, not the Riddler, if she wanted to survive it.
"An unusual name", Darth Blade murmured, leaning close to her as their two blades locked. "One I will have to investigate further after I have killed you." She realised then that he had been reading her thoughts, and shuddered at the violation of her privacy.
She pushed him backwards with the Force, trying to disperse the smell of his breath, which seemed to hang in the air around her. Determination filled her, and she quickly began to attack, her lessons with Jedi Heiwa having taught her how to fight against a double sided weapon.
She realised, as she watched his movements and tried to counter each attack, that this Darth Blade had been the one who killed Catherine, and that he would not hesitate to kill the Riddler if he was given the chance. She could never allow that.
Using his double-bladed lightsaber, Darth Blade was able to stop every movement of her own weapon, but he took a step back anyway, as though she had the advantage, if only for a moment. She tried to keep the Sith off balance, to do the unexpected, not knowing much about the Dark Side of the Force or how the Sith were able to use it. All she knew was that he was a Master, whereas she had little real experience with fighting.
Sailor Coruscant leapt over his head, the blue of her lightsaber blocking the two quick strokes he made as he turned around to face her. Again the lightsabers caught, and she smiled up at him. "You will find that I am not so easily killed."
His lightsaber moved too fast for her to counter every stroke, but he seemed to be toying with her, for none of them ever touched her skin, although the fabric of her short skirt was sliced in many places, and the bow on her chest had been cut away. Somehow her locket remained untouched, for all that the ribbon it had been resting on was now gone. Sailor Coruscant jumped, kicking him in the face with a heeled boot, and was a little surprised when it actually connected, leaving a red mark.
He quickly followed through with a volley of strikes that she should not have been able to defend against, but she took her mind away and let the Force guide her actions so that she would not be harmed, hoping that she would be strong enough to beat him, but knowing that it was not really an option.
He kicked her in the stomach, and could have ended it then, as she dropped her weapon and fell forward. But he did not. Instead, he stepped back, holding his lightsaber to one side, and made a small gesture that she assumed meant 'get your toy and let us continue this.' Why was he being so generous? Why did he wait?
The answer came to her in a rush of fear and horror: he could afford to be generous.
She was going to die.
Domus Prime would be in the hands of the Sith.
No.
She would not let that happen.
She had given up too much for that to happen.
The lightsaber lifted itself off the floor and flew to her hand. Its cool touch was familiar to her, she had built it herself. She had put the finishing touches and sealed the casing in a small room not too far from here six years ago. So much had occurred since then, what had happened to the carefree girl she once was?
A small spark of lightning struck the floor in front of her feet, and she looked up in surprise. "Still want to play with the big boys, little girl?"
A wave of premonition swept over her at his words, but she forced it back, one hand reaching up to her locket. She had promised, promised that she would never again use its power to hurt anyone. But then the Sith threw more lightning at her, and she fell to the ground, fire burning in every particle of her body.
She curled up in a ball, and looked up into his eyes. They flashed with anger and menace, and he smiled at her as he continued with the attack. She screamed, but there was no one who would hear her.
Her lightsaber was on the floor before her, but to move it would hurt so much. She could not think, she could not see anything but the energy, the lightning, that was flowing through her body. She closed her eyes, and wished for death to come. But it would not. He was not about to let her escape that easily.
He laughed at her, and for a moment she could hear Catherine's voice over the top of his, telling her to go on fighting. She blocked off the pain, she used almost all of her energy to stop herself from feeling what he did to her. She moved her left hand experimentally, bringing it up to touch her locket. She raised it up slightly, into the stream of lightning, and pointed one finger at Blade.
"Force Blast." It was little more than a whisper, a wish, but it was enough. The power flowed through her, out of her arm and into the Sith, who was knocked backwards, but she knew that he would soon recover. She did not have the strength to attack him properly, and she was afraid to experience the power of the Crystal again, knowing what had happened last time.
She pushed down her fears, and stood, a little unsteadily.
Anger flashed in his eyes. "An interesting trick", he snarled, "not the Light Side or the Dark, but rather a combination of both. I wonder how you did that."
She ignited her lightsaber, and waiting for him to attack again. She did not speak, she would not give him the satisfaction. She tried to calm the beating of her heart, the screaming of her thoughts, the pain in her body.
She met his eyes defiantly, not caring to keep her anger in check anymore. The power of Coruscant would protect her from the Dark Side, and her grief was too strong for her to contain. "You killed my best friend", Sailor Coruscant said in a soft voice.
"I kill a lot of people. It is one of the joys of the Sith." Darth Blade's voice was as smooth as silk, and he smiled easily at her. She stepped in close, her lightsaber passing close to his face, but he gently pushed it to one side, as though it was of no importance. His eyes did not leave her own.
She called another ball of energy into being and threw it at him, not bothering to call out the incantation this time, simply drawing on the power of Coruscant. With a complicated flip over her head, he was able to avoid the attack, which shattered the fine glass window on the far side of the room.
Sailor Coruscant flinched for the briefest of moments at the destruction she had caused, even as she turned around to stop Darth Blade's lightsaber from cutting across her body. She was able to stop it, but not before it gave the briefest of touches to her right arm, sending fire burning through her body. A small gasp escaped her control, and there were tears waiting in her eyes. But she would not let them fall. Not yet.
Darth Blade noticed the control she was exhibiting, and grinned as the two blades clashed in a shower of sparks above her head. "You would make a fine Sith, my dear", he purred, reaching out a hand to caress her right cheek, causing a flash of pain as he sent more lightning into her already overtired body. "Just give in to your darker side and join me."
She brought down her saber in anger, not noticing as she forced him to move his own with it, prepared to throw every once of power she could command at him in an instant. He tried to twist the saber, to bring up the other blade and strike her with it, but her will overrode his, and he was unable to do so.
Sailor Coruscant reached into the bottom of her reserves, and drew forth all of the power she could command, using the Force to control it even as she saw the sudden surprise on his face. Even as she made a small motion with her right hand, ignoring the pain it caused, to set free the energy she would use to destroy him, she turned and plunged her lightsaber into his chest.
"I would never turn to the Dark Side", she told him in an even tone, as she deactivated her lightsaber and put it away.
It was only as she turned and walked out of the council chambers that Sailor Coruscant started to cry.
The flames were hotter than she had expected, but she did not notice them, for all her attention was on the body of the one who was being consumed by them. Tears fell down her face in a steady stream, reflecting the light of the fire to all who looked upon her. Sailor Coruscant stood, not thinking about anything save that she had failed her best friend.
Of all the choices she had ever made, this one she regretted the most. She had hesitated, and it had cost her Catherine, the only person in the galaxy who had always seemed to understand what Hikari-No was going through.
Around her stood many of the courtesans of Domus Prime, those that had not been on the council of advisers, who were now imprisoned. Sailor Coruscant reached out her mind without thinking, and sensed that although most of those here were truly grieving, others had seen this night's event as a chance to evaluate the position of their enemies and begin manoeuvring again for power on Domus Prime.
A light breeze made the ashes on the pyre dance lightly, and for an instant, as she closed her eyes, Sailor Coruscant thought that she could hear the sound of Catherine's laughter, always joyous. This brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes and she found herself crying not only for the loss of a friend, but for the loss of the innocence that friendship had seemed to symbolise.
Her hair, which reached down beyond her knees, shadowed the movements of the flames as they consumed Catherine's body. Her spirit was already a part of the Force, but Sailor Coruscant did not want to accept her loss just yet.
She had reversed her transformation for a short time the day before after she had fought Darth Blade, but only long enough for the doctors to treat the wound on her left arm. When she had resumed her form as Sailor Coruscant, her torn Senshi uniform was as new, as if the battle had never taken place. If it were not for the bandage around her upper arm and the aching pain behind it, she could almost believe that it had been a horrible nightmare. One that she longed to wake up from.
Over her clothes she wore a black cloak, though the hood was not drawn. It was made from heavy material, and had been a gift from 'Shandra, who had seemed alarmed to find out that Sailor Coruscant had no clothes to reflect her grief.
There was a slight tap on her good arm. She turned to see Jester standing behind her, his normally bright-coloured clothing replaced with the sombre tones of mourning. "I am sorry", he said, but she barely heard the words, lost as she was in a fog of grief, "She was my friend too."
There was nothing she could say to that and she did not move, standing tall in front of the fire and watching. Her eyes seemed almost grey rather than blue, to Jester when he looked down on her calm face, as though the life had faded from them. For the first time Jester saw Sailor Coruscant as she really was, not just a young woman in a short skirt who could fight well and had organised a revolution on Domus Prime, but as a girl who had lost everything and had nothing left to hold on to.
Perhaps she heard a little of his revelations, for she turned away from the fire to look at him properly for the first time. He had grown up in the years since she had last seen him, and his innate Jedi abilities seemed to shine on his face in the light of the funeral pyre. Sailor Coruscant wondered if anyone had ever taught him how to use these skills, or if he was still just the Court Entertainer.
"What will you do now?" Jester asked the question softly and politely.
She stared at the pyre for a long time without moving, until he thought that she had not heard him. "I do not know", she answered finally in a whisper, "I never thought about what I would do afterward. I just had to come here to make things right." Sailor Coruscant spoke more to herself than to him, as though the she was only just realising something important.
"Will you stay on Domus Prime?"
The orange light from the fire traced intricate patterns across her face, and for the briefest of instants Jester thought he saw a fine scar on her right cheek. But it must have only been a shadow, for as quickly as it appeared to him it vanished.
Sailor Coruscant's long hair moved in the breeze, some of its fine strands brushing against her face. She remembered what she had told Catherine. "I will stay, for a time", she said, as more tears started to fall down her pale cheeks. "Just to make sure everything here goes back to the way it was. Fairly this time, the way it should be."
He nodded, and she closed her eyes again, although she could still see the light from the flames and feel its heat.
"Do you really think that anything here on Domus Prime could ever go back to the way it was before?"
She thought for a long time before answering. "Maybe on the surface, if nothing else. Domus Prime has many traditions and the people are very set in their ways. Perhaps now they will be more cautious, especially since the Sith were involved in what happened." They should all have been more cautious. She should have been cautious. She should have known.
Jester noticed the sudden flash of anger in her eyes, as a strange thought occurred to him. "It was not your fault", he said with insight, louder than earlier, "there was nothing you could have done."
But as she stepped down from her position nearest the pyre, Sailor Coruscant knew that he was wrong. She turned her back on the flames that were starting to die down, and carefully wiped the last few tears from her eyes. "I would give my world to be able to make it up to her, to make everything alright again. I do not regret what I had to do, I only wish that the ending could have been different. I will never forgive myself for what happened."
Jester frowned at her retreating form, trying to understand what Sailor Coruscant meant. He thought about what she had said, and considered again the idea that had just struck him. As he walked away he found himself considering the future of Domus Prime, and what path he should choose for them to follow.