"My lord prince." She did not kneel or even incline her head, but Darien saw more respect in her eyes than either of the two actions could've provoked. Her voice was almost accented, the word 'prince' clipped in an odd dialect that he almost knew. "I'm going to send you to the Guardian's house. There is danger coming."
"Solar, how did you find me in this form?"
"I would know you if there were a million carbon copies of you in a crowd before me when I was blind and dying. I am sworn to protect you, prince, and that I will always do."
"Please, tell me where to find a girl named Atia. She's close to me but I cannot find her. I don't want to leave without her. I don't know how I know her, but I do, and I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to her." Darien could hear the wind picking up and distant sirens wailing.
"Don't worry about the girl, prince. No harm shall befall her."
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me, m'lord." She smiled. He blinked
That fast, Darien found himself at Trista's house. The Inner and Outer Senshi were already there. "Where is she?" he asked, staring at Trista with a puzzled expression. "Why didn't she come too?"
"She's no fool. She knows that by coming here she would reveal her identity. The same goes with Destruction - they're both safe." Trista grinned. "Believe me, she knows what she's doing."
"Where's Diana?" Rini asked suddenly. "If there's a tornado coming, she and Luna and Artemis could be in danger too!"
As if in answer, the three guardian cats appeared in a flash of light and mist. Luna and Artemis were lying down, looking unconscious or worse. Diana was trembling and licking her bloodied paws. That fast, her injuries were gone, and Luna and Artemis sat up, looking vaguely disoriented.
"Diana!" Rini ran over to her. "What happened??"
"We were trapped in the arcade. The tornado came, and just as it started throwing stuff, another sailor scout appeared...and now we're here." Diana was evidently confused and leaned against her mistress when Rini picked her up.
"You knew, didn't you?" Luna hissed, looking directly at Trista. "You knew she was back!"
"Luna, she just saved your life! Can't you even forgive her for something she didn't even do?!" Trista was immediately defensive, glaring at the cat with a look of disbelief.
"Sailor Solar is a threat to us all! As long as she's here, so are they!" Artemis shouted. "Where are they, Trista? Where are they hiding?"
Trista's angry expression vanished like candle being blown out, replaced by a look of raw pain. "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Luna snarled, eyes sparkling with hate.
Artemis shrugged off the question. "Tell us where they are, Trista!"
"You don't know." It was a statement now, no longer a question.
"Don't know what?!" Artemis asked in angry exasperation.
Tears welled up in the Guardian's eyes, and a single crystal bead slid free. "Lia's dead, Artemis. She was killed. Ocean and Sky are missing. Neither Solar nor myself have heard from them in over a millennia, and it's possible they've met up with Lia." Artemis looked momentarily stunned, but Luna showed no indifference.
"So she's paid the price for her carelessness. She's lost her sister and her family. Everything but you, Trista." Luna stared at her coldly. "Everyone but you. And neither of you should've survived that Battle. You ran, didn't you?"
"No." The admittance of Lia's death had made her quiet.
"Lia's dead." Artemis stared at her stupidly. "Solar let her die."
"No! Lia died to protect Princess Serenity on their journey to earth!" Trista's eyes widened.
"As long as Solar is alive, that means Lia isn't out of our way quite yet."
"Lia can be brought back?" Trista read between the lines, and her face almost lit up with hope.
"Trista, listen to me! You know the planet of Saturn is usually a place of evil. Lia is the queen, and there's an equal amount of evil as there is good in her. If she was good in her former life, she'd be evil if she were ever to be brought back." Artemis stared at her with an intense frown.
"Lia'd never-"
"Did you ever think he'd become evil, Trista?" Luna asked in quiet fury. "Did you?"
The Guardian looked momentarily stoned. "N-no. But Lia...Lia's not like that!"
Luna shook her head. "You're never going to understand, are you? The bond you five share runs thicker than blood and deeper than love, yes, but some things you cannot help nor change. You cannot change Lia's heritage, Trista."
"We're her family!" Trista cried in a choked voice.
"He was her fiancé."
"Stop it!" Trista took a step back. "You don't know what you're saying!"
"Calm down, all three of you! Artemis, how would Solar be able to bring this 'Lia' back so that we can prevent her from doing so?" Darien stepped between them, and none dared to object.
"Finally - someone's talking some sense." Luna's tail flicked.
"Don't let her sing. Her voice can carry to this world and the next. It would also bring back Ocean and Sky, and we cannot risk that." At his prince's confused look, his tail twitched in slight agitation. "Ocean and Sky are Solar's cousins. If all five of them are reunited, we'll have a disaster on our hands."
"How can you keep a person from singing?" Michelle asked, hiding a snort. "It seems to me like that woman is perfectly capable of doing whatever she pleases."
"You cannot stop her from doing so, that much is true. But once she starts, by God, you can make her stop." Artemis turned his hard gaze to Trista. "Trista, now you know what will happen, and she does not. It's up to you not to let her sing." His blue eyes narrowed. "And neither can you."
Trista cried out as though she'd been slapped across the face. "How could you, Artemis?! That's the only thing that will keep her alive!"
"Exactly." Luna stared at her emotionlessly. "That's just it. Without Solar, there is no threat of the doom." Second-guessing the woman's next protest, she added, "You cannot do it yourself, Trista - you know her powers outweigh yours."
"Ocean and Sky will come. When they sense us together, they'll know we're alive, and then there will be nothing you can do!" Trista shouted angrily.
"Don't be selfish! By bringing Ocean, Sky, and Lia back to this earth, you'd destroy it! There will be a disaster so great that nothing anyone could do would save it! Do you want the senshi to die? Solar's already brought him by coming back, and we'll be lucky to survive his onslaught!" Artemis snapped.
Trista was silent for a moment, the tears glistening in her eyes. "Her powers are growing. She'll be able to beat him then." She swallowed. "She'd sacrifice her life to beat him, to get back at him." She stared at the cats with a pleading look. "He's going kill her."
This took the felines aback. "She'd do that?"
"Of course she would. You two don't know her at all. Before you came, before any of us were queens, she swore to protect the planets and the senshi with her life. She doesn't break her promises." Trista was upset, but she was forcing her voice to a state of calm.
"'I would know you if there were a million carbon copies of you in a crowd before me when I was blind and dying. I am sworn to protect you, prince, and that I will always do'," Darien murmured. He looked at the cats. "She said that to me. And I believe her."
Outside, the raging storm continued to blow. Suddenly the wind seemed to be inside the room, whispering and ruffling. After a moment, voices became clear. Words were exchanged on the wind.
A form appeared, on her knees in front of the door, bloodied and torn by a great fight. She had orange hair and dark skin tone, but that was all they could make out. She was like fog, transparent and blurry. She stretched a hand out. "Help me."
Trista groaned and closed her eyes. "Lia." She opened her eyes again, and tears ran down her cheeks. Her heart burned as though real fire dwelled there, threatening to consume her. After a moment, the sorrowful memories became real pain, and she knew that by accepting the figure, she was doing something to herself.
"The voices. That's what Solar meant," Amara said with a jolt. "Don't listen to the voices, Trista!" She grabbed the woman's arm, jerked it to make sure she had heard.
"Send her away before she takes on a stronger form!" Luna commanded as the form grew darker and more human-like.
"Mmm..." Trista looked away. "Lia...I'm sorry...? Her voice trailed off. "Be gone!" she said as firmly as she could, a voice cold and totally unlike her own. The fog vanished. But that didn't keep the voices, the images, the memories out of her head.
Her red eyes went opaque, and she jumped back with her hands over her ears and her eyes shut. She screamed and began to shake.
"Puu!" Rini cried, knowing better than to walk up to her. Trista screamed again and staggered against the wall. The little girl closed her eyes tightly and held Diana close. "Solar, help her, please!"
A soft breeze flitted around the princess, and for a moment she could make out a familiar form - 'Ia.' The figure smiled, then vanished, only to reappear beside Trista. She wrapped her arms around the Guardian and began to sing softly.
"No!" Luna shouted, racing up to her.
But she was too late. Trista slumped into her arms, fainted. Solar lay her gently down, glanced at Luna darkly, and disappeared.
