BLOOD OF THE IMMORTAL,
Chapter 5: "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
By Bill K.
It was not the first time she'd tried this stunt. Experimenting
in Crystal Tokyo, Juno had experienced "dry diving", as she named it,
and the wonders beneath the water. It was a fascinating experience, one
she was eager to repeat.
This was not like that. This was a foray into a dark, foreboding
mire. Shadows were everywhere, absorbing the light like a sponge. The
water further distorted things, making the moat a gauntlet of potential
deadly hiding places for all sorts of potentially deadly creatures.
"And naturally Vesta zips on ahead without being careful," thought
Juno. "Who knows what's down here?"
Vesta turned and glanced impatiently back at her. Shaking her
head with annoyance, she swam back. It wasn't entirely her fault she
was so far ahead. Her humanoid fish form was better equipped for speed
in the water than Juno and she wasn't slowed by a traveling air pocket.
The girl reached Juno and began gesturing at her impatiently. It
was fortunate that they couldn't speak underwater or Juno would be
getting an earful. Still Juno spotted enough gestures to get the gist
of what Vesta meant. Her temper welling, Juno began violently gesturing
back. Vesta soon cut her off with a particularly rude gesture and
arrogantly swam off.
"Oh, that stuck up little . . .!" fumed Juno. "I ought to stick
that attitude of hers up . . ."
Juno caught herself and forced herself to calm.
"What's happening to me? I'm not like that anymore!" She glanced
back at Vesta. "Is it affecting her, too? She's been pretty gruff ever
since we got here."
Pressing on, Juno swam down to the bottom of the moat. Vesta was
already searching the rocks and crags at the bottom for some way in.
Juno gave her one last look of concern, then swam off to the right.
Mindful of how much air she had left, Juno searched along the moat wall.
All she saw was jagged rock, silt, and more rock. There didn't seem to
be life down here, let alone an opening to the towers, though Juno
didn't let her guard down.
"There's nothing down here," Juno thought. "Nothing." She
stopped, moving and kicking to tread water. "We may as well head back
up and try a different tact."
Turning, Juno began to head back to Vesta, then stopped in shock.
Vesta floated limp in the water, air bubbles escaping from her open
mouth. Frantically cleaving the water, Juno reached her sister amazon
in seconds. It was still far slower than she liked. Reaching Vesta,
she saw the girl had transformed back to her human form and was
drowning.
Quickly pressing her shoulder into Vesta's midsection, Juno shot
them to the surface as fast as she could stroke. When they broke the
surface, Juno flung Vesta back so her face was above the surface of the
water. Realizing she still wasn't breathing, Juno dragged the girl to
shore and struggled to pull them both out of the water.
"Aqua Initiation!" Juno yelled, her hands over Vesta's chest.
Juno's control over water allowed her to draw the liquid from Vesta's
lungs and it came bubbling out of her nose and mouth. Air rushed in to
replace the vacuum and Juno began chest massage until Vesta's lungs
began breathing on their own.
"Vesta?" Juno asked, shaking her sister to wake her. "Vesta, wake
up!"
There was no response. Vesta looked very pale. Removing her
glove, Juno felt Vesta's neck and forehead. The skin was cool and
clammy. Panic welled up in the girl and she fought to keep control.
Then she saw it. The wounds on Vesta's leg from the attack of the cat
creatures were an unnatural green. Juno stared at it.
"Poison?" Juno thought. "Those cat creatures - - are their claws
coated in some venom?" All thoughts and influences of the corrupting
landscape were suddenly banished from her by concern over her sister.
Struggling to maintain her composure, Juno frantically searched her mind
for what to do next. "Warm! Got to keep her warm first! Then find
something to slow it or stop it! Hang on, Vesta! I won't let you die!"
She shot to her feet and turned, and found a pack of cat creatures
silently stalking her. The lead cat, the element of surprise lost,
leaped at Sailor Juno, claws and teeth bared.
* * * *
"Change them back!" howled Sailor Moon. Ctesias stood between
Evionne, now a salt statue, and Sailor Saturn, changed to a misshapen
tree. Fear mixed with anger in the young girl's red eyes.
"You come uninvited into my abode and then make demands upon me?"
Ctesias asked, taunting her. "You disappoint me, Princess."
"Do not take her on, Maiden!" warned Helios. "Escape if you can!"
"Not without you!" Sailor Moon replied.
"You shall go nowhere by any means, girl," Ctesias said. "You
have wronged me and now you must be made to pay."
"Me? What about you? You said Helios wasn't here! And look at
what you've done to him!"
Ctesias shrugged. The gesture further infuriated Sailor Moon.
"Change them back!" she demanded.
"They pay the penalty for trespass and so shall they remain for
all eternity," Ctesias replied, daring her to object. But Sailor Moon
did more than just object. She produced the Crescent Moon Wand.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" she cried.
Pink energy radiated out from the crystal embedded in the handle
of the Wand. Ctesias threw her hand up over her eyes to shield herself
from its brilliance. The energy surrounded the motionless forms of her
two companions and they began to shimmer. Twin voices called out
"Refresh" and Evionne and Sailor Saturn were restored to their proper
forms.
"Most impressive, Princess," Ctesias said calmly.
She gestured once, as if flinging water from her hands. Once more
tendrils from the floor rose up and surrounded the pair, meeting above
them and then hardening into metal bars. In the blink of an eye, Saturn
and Evionne were again prisoners, each in her own cage.
"Do you have any other tricks?" Ctesias asked Sailor Moon.
Goaded, Sailor Moon focused on Ctesias. "Moon Healing
Escalation!" she cried. The pink radiation enveloped Ctesias. Her eyes
closed and her face grew serene, her features changing from evil and
arrogant to calm and wistful. Her hands folded across her chest. The
corners of her mouth began to turn up.
Then her eyes opened and the look was as joyously malicious as any
Sailor Moon had ever encountered in her young life.
Something pliant snapped around Sailor Moon's throat from behind.
Reflexively her hands shot up to pry the choking wrap from her throat.
The Crescent Moon Wand loudly clattered to the floor. Unable to resist,
Sailor Moon was pulled back several steps toward the wall. Two more
pliant entities wrapped around her wrists and dragged the girl's arms
down to her waist. Then, impossibly, the pliant tendrils hardened into
solid metal manacles around her wrists and throat and chains connecting
her to the wall by her arms and neck. Sailor Moon pulled at the chains.
They held effortlessly.
"Perhaps one day you would have given me enough of a challenge to
concern me," Ctesias smiled with arrogant triumph. "That day is not
today."
She reached down for the Crescent Wand. However, she stopped
within inches of the pink and gold wand. Her face took on an expression
of nausea and her hand began to shake. Ctesias withdrew and seemed to
go back to normal.
"There continues to be more to you than meets the eye, young
Princess," scowled Ctesias. "No matter. If I cannot touch it, then
neither shall you." She pointed to the floor and a thick bubble of
stone formed over the Crescent Moon Wand, trapping it beneath.
"Why are you doing this?" Sailor Moon demanded. "What are you
going to do to us?"
"Your companions mean nothing to me," Ctesias replied. "They
shall starve to death before your eyes, only because I choose not to
expend the time and energy it would require to kill them now." Her eyes
narrowed. "As for you . . ."
A wave of nausea passed over Ctesias. She stumbled back a step,
clutching her middle. Before Sailor Moon's wondrous eyes, Ctesias
seemed to age two decades in the blink of an eye. Swallowing back bile,
the sorceress took several shaky steps toward Helios. The equine,
resigned to his fate, did not seem to struggle. Opening her hands, she
stopped and concentrated. In one hand, a gold chalice encrusted with
rubies appeared. In the other appeared a curved knife with a gold hilt,
a dragon carved upon it with small rubies for eyes.
"What are you going to do?!" Sailor Moon demanded frantically.
She pulled uselessly at her chains. "Stop! Stop it!"
Ctesias bent down, holding the cup to Helios' chest, and cut
across the white flesh swiftly and cleanly.
"Nnnnnnnnnn!" groaned Helios, his eyes jammed shut.
"Stop!" wailed Sailor Moon as red rivulets oozed from the fresh
cut.
The droplets trickled into the chalice, their crimson color almost
regal against the shiny gold of the cup. As Sailor Moon sobbed openly
and begged her to stop, Ctesias continued to bleed Helios into the cup
until enough blood was collected. Then she straightened on unsteady
legs, brought the cup to her mouth with shaky hands, and drank it down
before her disgusted prisoners. When she downed the last drop, her arms
fell to her sides, the knife and cup clattering onto the floor and
vanishing. Her head lolled back. Her breathing grew stronger. The
shakes disappeared from her arms. Her hands traveled up her stomach and
sternum, cupping her chin and neck as her head righted itself. She wore
an almost enraptured expression on her face, a face that was now
restored to its previous youth and vigor. At length, she recovered
from her ecstasy and refocused on Sailor Moon. The girl cried bitterly,
staring at the vicious wound on Helios.
"What shall become of you, Princess?" Ctesias told her, confident
and uncaring again. "You interest me. You have power. I shall learn
the secret of that power. I shall rip it from your breast and add it to
my own. And then, because you amuse me, I shall keep you as a slave
until you die - - or until you no longer amuse me." The corners of her
mouth turned up wickedly. "But I am not completely heartless. I shall
leave you now so you may nurse your stricken lover. We will have time
later for ourselves. I have all the time in the world."
Ctesias brought her hand up to her face, then passed it down the
length of her sternum. She vanished from the room without a trace.
"Helios?" Sailor Moon pleaded fearfully, straining at her chains.
"Chosen One?" Evionne said, just as fearfully. "Please do not
die!"
"I shall not die," Helios thought aloud with the exhaustion of
defeat. "Ctesias shall see to that."
"Helios, I'll get you out of this," Sailor Moon vowed. "I promise
I will! Please don't lose hope!"
"I thank you, Maiden," Helios replied. "I shall try to take heart
in your words. Forgive me my lack of vigor. It has been many months in
her hands."
"Months?" Sailor Moon asked. She looked to Saturn and Evionne.
Each was equally perplexed.
* * * *
"OK, how do we get in?" Ceres asked. She and Sailor Pallas stood
next to one of the towers.
"It's a secret," smirked Pallas.
"Listen, Stupid . . ."
"Don't call Pallas stupid!"
"Quiet!" hissed Ceres. "You want that scary Ctesias to find out
we're here?" Pallas stuck out her lower lip. "Now if you have a way
in, let's go so we can find Helios!"
"Say please," Pallas huffed.
Ceres stared at her. The girl's expression took on a subtle
shift, looking at Sailor Pallas like she was mud on Ceres' shoes.
"Fine, don't," Ceres shrugged, aloof. She turned and began
walking back to the tree limb.
"Beautiful Incantation," Pallas said, gesturing at the wall.
Using her telekinetic power to shift the molecular density of the
wall out of phase, Pallas stepped through as if she was wading through
liquid. If you asked her how she did it, the girl couldn't tell you.
It was something, like her prowess in math, which seemed to be a savant
talent to her.
When Ceres didn't follow, Pallas peered back out the wall. Ceres
was down the bank, summoning the tree limb to ferry her across the moat.
"Wait!" cried Pallas, scampering over to Ceres. "Don't you want
to get into the tower and find the horsy-man?"
"No," Ceres said imperiously.
"Yes you do!"
"Buzz off," sniffed Ceres grandly. "Gawd, you're so immature."
"Don't be mean to Pallas!" Pallas shouted. "She'll send her
lemeures after you!"
"You don't even have lemeures anymore," scowled Ceres. "Baby!"
Lunging, Pallas caught the limb as it lifted off with Ceres in
tow, and held on as it traveled across the moat. She hung on
desperately until it reached the other side, then dropped to the ground.
Pallas sat on the ground and began softly crying.
At first, Ceres arrogantly ignored her. But slowly her sister
Amazon's sobbing began to penetrate the veil of the planet's influence
on her. Ceres glanced back at her and sympathy flooded over her,
washing out the corrupting influence. She walked over and knelt down
next to the sobbing girl.
"You were going to leave Pallas," Pallas wailed, "just like her
mommy did!"
"Pallas," Ceres whispered. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. It-it's
this place. There's something about this place. Neither one of us are
acting normally. Don't pay any attention to what I said or did."
"Pallas is sorry if she was mean to you," the girl sniffled.
"Things don't feel right. Things feel like they did with Granny
Zirconia. Pallas doesn't understand."
"It's all right," Ceres said, hugging Pallas. "You don't have to
understand. I don't understand either. All we have to do is find
Helios and get away from this awful place."
Suddenly Pallas started wriggling inside of Ceres' embrace.
Puzzled, Ceres pulled back.
"Juno's in trouble!" Pallas cried, scrambling to her feet.
"Pallas heard her!"
"Aqua Initiation!" Juno shouted.
At her command, the water from the moat rose up in a huge spout,
then crashed down onto the attacking cat creatures. Swamped, they
struggled to maintain their positions until the water dissipated. Some
of the pride hung back after that, wary of Juno. The younger ones
renewed their attacks.
Undaunted, Juno waved at the puddled water on the ground. Small
pellet-sized balls of water sprang up into the air and launched
themselves at the attacking cats. Lent weight by their momentum, the
water pellets struck the animals with painful rapid-fire precision.
Several guttural howls resonated up from them and the cats gave ground.
Allowing herself one glance at Vesta confirmed Juno's worst fears.
While Vesta was still breathing, her breathing was shallow and her color
was bad. Juno snapped back to the problem at hand. Much as it pained
her, she couldn't worry about that now.
Juno noticed the cats were split into three groups. The younger
ones moved to repeat their frontal assault while the older cats stalked
her from both sides, trying to surround her. Juno wondered for a moment
if her rainstorm attack would be enough. Then she wondered if this
strange world even had rain.
"Beautiful Incantation!"
The high-pitched squeal startled both the cats and Juno. It was
followed by the cats on the left flank being bowled over by an invisible
force. Cats pitched and sprawled into the center formation, knocking
the others over. Gray-brown tendrils set upon the rest of the young
from the moss patches, swirling and snapping at them like things alive.
Some dodged and other were caught and squeezed into unconsciousness.
Juno brought up another wave and swamped the cats on the right flank.
It proved too much for the pride of cats and the ones conscious ran off.
"Juno!" Pallas cried, leaping on the senshi and hugging her
tightly. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Juno grinned, returning the hug. "Thanks to you and
Ceres."
"What's wrong with Vesta?" Pallas whimpered. The question brought
the thought to the front of Juno's mind. "She dying?!" Juno silently
cursed her sister's power.
"Vesta's dying?" gasped Ceres.
"Yeah," grimaced Juno, checking on Vesta so she didn't have to
face the others. "Those cat things have a venom in their claws. It's
poisoned her."
"Juno, we have to help her!" Pallas cried.
"Pallas," Juno told her helplessly, "I don't know how."
Continued in part 6
Chapter 5: "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
By Bill K.
It was not the first time she'd tried this stunt. Experimenting
in Crystal Tokyo, Juno had experienced "dry diving", as she named it,
and the wonders beneath the water. It was a fascinating experience, one
she was eager to repeat.
This was not like that. This was a foray into a dark, foreboding
mire. Shadows were everywhere, absorbing the light like a sponge. The
water further distorted things, making the moat a gauntlet of potential
deadly hiding places for all sorts of potentially deadly creatures.
"And naturally Vesta zips on ahead without being careful," thought
Juno. "Who knows what's down here?"
Vesta turned and glanced impatiently back at her. Shaking her
head with annoyance, she swam back. It wasn't entirely her fault she
was so far ahead. Her humanoid fish form was better equipped for speed
in the water than Juno and she wasn't slowed by a traveling air pocket.
The girl reached Juno and began gesturing at her impatiently. It
was fortunate that they couldn't speak underwater or Juno would be
getting an earful. Still Juno spotted enough gestures to get the gist
of what Vesta meant. Her temper welling, Juno began violently gesturing
back. Vesta soon cut her off with a particularly rude gesture and
arrogantly swam off.
"Oh, that stuck up little . . .!" fumed Juno. "I ought to stick
that attitude of hers up . . ."
Juno caught herself and forced herself to calm.
"What's happening to me? I'm not like that anymore!" She glanced
back at Vesta. "Is it affecting her, too? She's been pretty gruff ever
since we got here."
Pressing on, Juno swam down to the bottom of the moat. Vesta was
already searching the rocks and crags at the bottom for some way in.
Juno gave her one last look of concern, then swam off to the right.
Mindful of how much air she had left, Juno searched along the moat wall.
All she saw was jagged rock, silt, and more rock. There didn't seem to
be life down here, let alone an opening to the towers, though Juno
didn't let her guard down.
"There's nothing down here," Juno thought. "Nothing." She
stopped, moving and kicking to tread water. "We may as well head back
up and try a different tact."
Turning, Juno began to head back to Vesta, then stopped in shock.
Vesta floated limp in the water, air bubbles escaping from her open
mouth. Frantically cleaving the water, Juno reached her sister amazon
in seconds. It was still far slower than she liked. Reaching Vesta,
she saw the girl had transformed back to her human form and was
drowning.
Quickly pressing her shoulder into Vesta's midsection, Juno shot
them to the surface as fast as she could stroke. When they broke the
surface, Juno flung Vesta back so her face was above the surface of the
water. Realizing she still wasn't breathing, Juno dragged the girl to
shore and struggled to pull them both out of the water.
"Aqua Initiation!" Juno yelled, her hands over Vesta's chest.
Juno's control over water allowed her to draw the liquid from Vesta's
lungs and it came bubbling out of her nose and mouth. Air rushed in to
replace the vacuum and Juno began chest massage until Vesta's lungs
began breathing on their own.
"Vesta?" Juno asked, shaking her sister to wake her. "Vesta, wake
up!"
There was no response. Vesta looked very pale. Removing her
glove, Juno felt Vesta's neck and forehead. The skin was cool and
clammy. Panic welled up in the girl and she fought to keep control.
Then she saw it. The wounds on Vesta's leg from the attack of the cat
creatures were an unnatural green. Juno stared at it.
"Poison?" Juno thought. "Those cat creatures - - are their claws
coated in some venom?" All thoughts and influences of the corrupting
landscape were suddenly banished from her by concern over her sister.
Struggling to maintain her composure, Juno frantically searched her mind
for what to do next. "Warm! Got to keep her warm first! Then find
something to slow it or stop it! Hang on, Vesta! I won't let you die!"
She shot to her feet and turned, and found a pack of cat creatures
silently stalking her. The lead cat, the element of surprise lost,
leaped at Sailor Juno, claws and teeth bared.
* * * *
"Change them back!" howled Sailor Moon. Ctesias stood between
Evionne, now a salt statue, and Sailor Saturn, changed to a misshapen
tree. Fear mixed with anger in the young girl's red eyes.
"You come uninvited into my abode and then make demands upon me?"
Ctesias asked, taunting her. "You disappoint me, Princess."
"Do not take her on, Maiden!" warned Helios. "Escape if you can!"
"Not without you!" Sailor Moon replied.
"You shall go nowhere by any means, girl," Ctesias said. "You
have wronged me and now you must be made to pay."
"Me? What about you? You said Helios wasn't here! And look at
what you've done to him!"
Ctesias shrugged. The gesture further infuriated Sailor Moon.
"Change them back!" she demanded.
"They pay the penalty for trespass and so shall they remain for
all eternity," Ctesias replied, daring her to object. But Sailor Moon
did more than just object. She produced the Crescent Moon Wand.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" she cried.
Pink energy radiated out from the crystal embedded in the handle
of the Wand. Ctesias threw her hand up over her eyes to shield herself
from its brilliance. The energy surrounded the motionless forms of her
two companions and they began to shimmer. Twin voices called out
"Refresh" and Evionne and Sailor Saturn were restored to their proper
forms.
"Most impressive, Princess," Ctesias said calmly.
She gestured once, as if flinging water from her hands. Once more
tendrils from the floor rose up and surrounded the pair, meeting above
them and then hardening into metal bars. In the blink of an eye, Saturn
and Evionne were again prisoners, each in her own cage.
"Do you have any other tricks?" Ctesias asked Sailor Moon.
Goaded, Sailor Moon focused on Ctesias. "Moon Healing
Escalation!" she cried. The pink radiation enveloped Ctesias. Her eyes
closed and her face grew serene, her features changing from evil and
arrogant to calm and wistful. Her hands folded across her chest. The
corners of her mouth began to turn up.
Then her eyes opened and the look was as joyously malicious as any
Sailor Moon had ever encountered in her young life.
Something pliant snapped around Sailor Moon's throat from behind.
Reflexively her hands shot up to pry the choking wrap from her throat.
The Crescent Moon Wand loudly clattered to the floor. Unable to resist,
Sailor Moon was pulled back several steps toward the wall. Two more
pliant entities wrapped around her wrists and dragged the girl's arms
down to her waist. Then, impossibly, the pliant tendrils hardened into
solid metal manacles around her wrists and throat and chains connecting
her to the wall by her arms and neck. Sailor Moon pulled at the chains.
They held effortlessly.
"Perhaps one day you would have given me enough of a challenge to
concern me," Ctesias smiled with arrogant triumph. "That day is not
today."
She reached down for the Crescent Wand. However, she stopped
within inches of the pink and gold wand. Her face took on an expression
of nausea and her hand began to shake. Ctesias withdrew and seemed to
go back to normal.
"There continues to be more to you than meets the eye, young
Princess," scowled Ctesias. "No matter. If I cannot touch it, then
neither shall you." She pointed to the floor and a thick bubble of
stone formed over the Crescent Moon Wand, trapping it beneath.
"Why are you doing this?" Sailor Moon demanded. "What are you
going to do to us?"
"Your companions mean nothing to me," Ctesias replied. "They
shall starve to death before your eyes, only because I choose not to
expend the time and energy it would require to kill them now." Her eyes
narrowed. "As for you . . ."
A wave of nausea passed over Ctesias. She stumbled back a step,
clutching her middle. Before Sailor Moon's wondrous eyes, Ctesias
seemed to age two decades in the blink of an eye. Swallowing back bile,
the sorceress took several shaky steps toward Helios. The equine,
resigned to his fate, did not seem to struggle. Opening her hands, she
stopped and concentrated. In one hand, a gold chalice encrusted with
rubies appeared. In the other appeared a curved knife with a gold hilt,
a dragon carved upon it with small rubies for eyes.
"What are you going to do?!" Sailor Moon demanded frantically.
She pulled uselessly at her chains. "Stop! Stop it!"
Ctesias bent down, holding the cup to Helios' chest, and cut
across the white flesh swiftly and cleanly.
"Nnnnnnnnnn!" groaned Helios, his eyes jammed shut.
"Stop!" wailed Sailor Moon as red rivulets oozed from the fresh
cut.
The droplets trickled into the chalice, their crimson color almost
regal against the shiny gold of the cup. As Sailor Moon sobbed openly
and begged her to stop, Ctesias continued to bleed Helios into the cup
until enough blood was collected. Then she straightened on unsteady
legs, brought the cup to her mouth with shaky hands, and drank it down
before her disgusted prisoners. When she downed the last drop, her arms
fell to her sides, the knife and cup clattering onto the floor and
vanishing. Her head lolled back. Her breathing grew stronger. The
shakes disappeared from her arms. Her hands traveled up her stomach and
sternum, cupping her chin and neck as her head righted itself. She wore
an almost enraptured expression on her face, a face that was now
restored to its previous youth and vigor. At length, she recovered
from her ecstasy and refocused on Sailor Moon. The girl cried bitterly,
staring at the vicious wound on Helios.
"What shall become of you, Princess?" Ctesias told her, confident
and uncaring again. "You interest me. You have power. I shall learn
the secret of that power. I shall rip it from your breast and add it to
my own. And then, because you amuse me, I shall keep you as a slave
until you die - - or until you no longer amuse me." The corners of her
mouth turned up wickedly. "But I am not completely heartless. I shall
leave you now so you may nurse your stricken lover. We will have time
later for ourselves. I have all the time in the world."
Ctesias brought her hand up to her face, then passed it down the
length of her sternum. She vanished from the room without a trace.
"Helios?" Sailor Moon pleaded fearfully, straining at her chains.
"Chosen One?" Evionne said, just as fearfully. "Please do not
die!"
"I shall not die," Helios thought aloud with the exhaustion of
defeat. "Ctesias shall see to that."
"Helios, I'll get you out of this," Sailor Moon vowed. "I promise
I will! Please don't lose hope!"
"I thank you, Maiden," Helios replied. "I shall try to take heart
in your words. Forgive me my lack of vigor. It has been many months in
her hands."
"Months?" Sailor Moon asked. She looked to Saturn and Evionne.
Each was equally perplexed.
* * * *
"OK, how do we get in?" Ceres asked. She and Sailor Pallas stood
next to one of the towers.
"It's a secret," smirked Pallas.
"Listen, Stupid . . ."
"Don't call Pallas stupid!"
"Quiet!" hissed Ceres. "You want that scary Ctesias to find out
we're here?" Pallas stuck out her lower lip. "Now if you have a way
in, let's go so we can find Helios!"
"Say please," Pallas huffed.
Ceres stared at her. The girl's expression took on a subtle
shift, looking at Sailor Pallas like she was mud on Ceres' shoes.
"Fine, don't," Ceres shrugged, aloof. She turned and began
walking back to the tree limb.
"Beautiful Incantation," Pallas said, gesturing at the wall.
Using her telekinetic power to shift the molecular density of the
wall out of phase, Pallas stepped through as if she was wading through
liquid. If you asked her how she did it, the girl couldn't tell you.
It was something, like her prowess in math, which seemed to be a savant
talent to her.
When Ceres didn't follow, Pallas peered back out the wall. Ceres
was down the bank, summoning the tree limb to ferry her across the moat.
"Wait!" cried Pallas, scampering over to Ceres. "Don't you want
to get into the tower and find the horsy-man?"
"No," Ceres said imperiously.
"Yes you do!"
"Buzz off," sniffed Ceres grandly. "Gawd, you're so immature."
"Don't be mean to Pallas!" Pallas shouted. "She'll send her
lemeures after you!"
"You don't even have lemeures anymore," scowled Ceres. "Baby!"
Lunging, Pallas caught the limb as it lifted off with Ceres in
tow, and held on as it traveled across the moat. She hung on
desperately until it reached the other side, then dropped to the ground.
Pallas sat on the ground and began softly crying.
At first, Ceres arrogantly ignored her. But slowly her sister
Amazon's sobbing began to penetrate the veil of the planet's influence
on her. Ceres glanced back at her and sympathy flooded over her,
washing out the corrupting influence. She walked over and knelt down
next to the sobbing girl.
"You were going to leave Pallas," Pallas wailed, "just like her
mommy did!"
"Pallas," Ceres whispered. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. It-it's
this place. There's something about this place. Neither one of us are
acting normally. Don't pay any attention to what I said or did."
"Pallas is sorry if she was mean to you," the girl sniffled.
"Things don't feel right. Things feel like they did with Granny
Zirconia. Pallas doesn't understand."
"It's all right," Ceres said, hugging Pallas. "You don't have to
understand. I don't understand either. All we have to do is find
Helios and get away from this awful place."
Suddenly Pallas started wriggling inside of Ceres' embrace.
Puzzled, Ceres pulled back.
"Juno's in trouble!" Pallas cried, scrambling to her feet.
"Pallas heard her!"
"Aqua Initiation!" Juno shouted.
At her command, the water from the moat rose up in a huge spout,
then crashed down onto the attacking cat creatures. Swamped, they
struggled to maintain their positions until the water dissipated. Some
of the pride hung back after that, wary of Juno. The younger ones
renewed their attacks.
Undaunted, Juno waved at the puddled water on the ground. Small
pellet-sized balls of water sprang up into the air and launched
themselves at the attacking cats. Lent weight by their momentum, the
water pellets struck the animals with painful rapid-fire precision.
Several guttural howls resonated up from them and the cats gave ground.
Allowing herself one glance at Vesta confirmed Juno's worst fears.
While Vesta was still breathing, her breathing was shallow and her color
was bad. Juno snapped back to the problem at hand. Much as it pained
her, she couldn't worry about that now.
Juno noticed the cats were split into three groups. The younger
ones moved to repeat their frontal assault while the older cats stalked
her from both sides, trying to surround her. Juno wondered for a moment
if her rainstorm attack would be enough. Then she wondered if this
strange world even had rain.
"Beautiful Incantation!"
The high-pitched squeal startled both the cats and Juno. It was
followed by the cats on the left flank being bowled over by an invisible
force. Cats pitched and sprawled into the center formation, knocking
the others over. Gray-brown tendrils set upon the rest of the young
from the moss patches, swirling and snapping at them like things alive.
Some dodged and other were caught and squeezed into unconsciousness.
Juno brought up another wave and swamped the cats on the right flank.
It proved too much for the pride of cats and the ones conscious ran off.
"Juno!" Pallas cried, leaping on the senshi and hugging her
tightly. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Juno grinned, returning the hug. "Thanks to you and
Ceres."
"What's wrong with Vesta?" Pallas whimpered. The question brought
the thought to the front of Juno's mind. "She dying?!" Juno silently
cursed her sister's power.
"Vesta's dying?" gasped Ceres.
"Yeah," grimaced Juno, checking on Vesta so she didn't have to
face the others. "Those cat things have a venom in their claws. It's
poisoned her."
"Juno, we have to help her!" Pallas cried.
"Pallas," Juno told her helplessly, "I don't know how."
Continued in part 6