14 - Power of the Spirit.

Alexia looked up from the beautiful ivory and gold tutu she was wearing to gaze out at the expectant crowd before her, nervously hoping they were going to enjoy her performance.

It's so strange how I can never see anyone's face when I'm up here. She thought to herself, her blue eyes slowly making their way along the blurred faces of the people filling the auditorium. I wonder where mom and dad are sitting? She had no more time to search as the orchestra struck up. The sweet melody of the flute filled the dancer's mind with relaxed thoughts and she felt as if she were dancing on air. She kept her eyes closed, concentrating on every step and turn she made, until she felt a pair of hands touch her lightly on the waist. Looking behind her Alexia smiled as she saw Caliban there. As the strings section swelled with emotion the prince lifted his partner high above his head with the greatest of ease. Then they danced together, reflecting their love for one another in every movement they made, until the slow, emotional music suddenly picked up tempo and became whimsical. The crowd's laughter filled the hall and the two dancers turned to face a third - a small boy in a black and silver leotard (a stark contrast to Caliban's, which was white and gold) and a clown's mask. He was leaping about in a comical fashion, making his way toward Caliban and Alexia. When he reached them he pulled off the mask and grinned.

It was Lucilius.

However, instead of running off the stage in sheer terror Alexia found herself falling backwards into Caliban's arms in a mock swoon; the audience laughed again. Setting Alexia back on her feet Caliban linked his arm through hers whilst Lucilius took hold of the girl's other hand. The Charonian felt baffled by it all as they continued to dance amidst the roaring laughter.

I want to stop - but my feet won't let me! Alexia suddenly realised as the trio started to spin quickly.

She also noticed how Lucilius's hand seemed to be getting bigger by the second…

Finally they stopped spinning and the audience broke into rapturous applause. Alexia turned her head to look down at Lucilius and to her surprise found herself gazing at a pair of legs. Allowing her eyes to slowly drift upwards the girl discovered why the audience was clapping so loudly.

Lucilius had grown up!

She was just about to open her mouth to speak when the music started again . This time a rousing fanfare blared out from the brass section - and Florizel swung in on a rope! Caliban grabbed Alexia's shoulders and pulled her to the back of the stage whilst the newcomer and Lucilius circled each other threateningly before pretending to draw swords and fight! All of a sudden Alexia felt very hot under the stage lights and gripped Caliban's arm tightly in order to hold herself up. Before long another person swung in, showering the crowd with red rose petals as he did - Tuxedo Mask?! He too drew an imaginary sword and fought alongside Florizel. The music was getting louder and faster, and the lights were now starting to hurt Alexia's eyes as she regarded the melee almost as if she were in a hypnotic trance.

By the time the Sailor Scouts arrived on stage she felt too numb to even try and act surprised. The Scouts were wearing tutus that looked like their uniforms and Venus was carrying a golden rope, one end of which she threw to Lucilius, who caught it. The blonde Scout then skipped around and around him until he was completely wrapped up. Next Mercury spun and leapt past him, covering him in white confetti which caused Lucilius to pretend to shiver violently. Next Mars did the same with orange confetti (he pretended to be hot) and then Jupiter tapped him on the shoulder with a piece of wood shaped like a lightning bolt and pyrotechnic sparks shot up from the sides of the stage, causing the audience to gasp in awe. Lucilius fell to his knees, acting scared as Sailor Moon gracefully danced, swinging her sceptre around. Finally she pointed it at him and he keeled over. The audience cheered.

Alexia was moving dazedly to centre stage, not really sure what she was going to do, when a hand grabbed hold of her left wrist - it was Sailor Mars. A cymbal crashed, causing Alexia's ears to ring, then a timpani started a rumbling drum roll as Caliban took hold of her right wrist and tried to pull her away from the black-haired Scout. However Mars simply pulled back and soon Alexia felt like the rope in a tug o' war. Sailor Venus grabbed Mars by the waist, then Sailor Moon grabbed Venus's, then Mercury grabbed hers, then Jupiter joined in too. The orchestra crashed discordantly, like each instrument was playing its own wild tune. Alexia felt queasy and she felt sure that her arms were going to be pulled from their sockets as Caliban and the Scouts continued to pull her this way and that. The lights were burning so brightly that she could no longer keep her eyes open.

Then, she snapped.

"STOOOOOOOOP!" she cried out, and her wrists were suddenly free again.

Silence.

She opened her eyes to find herself in darkness.

No lights, no stage, no tutu, no music…

No one.

Sailor Charon was stood alone in the middle of her cell, her arms and legs spread wide.

She sat down hard.

Had she been dancing in her sleep?

x x x x x

The Scouts stood in fighting stance before Quintus and Lydria.

"Be careful, Scouts, Lydria is formidable!" Florizel called to them.

"Don't worry - we'll beat him, we have to!" Venus called.

"How dare you attempt to stop us from rescuing our friend!" Sailor Moon scolded. "Well, your attempts will not succeed! I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice - and you're moon dust!" Quintus laughed spitefully.

"Empty threats from a foolish child." he said. "Lydria - attack!"

The fire beast leapt into the air and hovered above them, flapping his wings. Then suddenly he swooped down, causing the Scouts to scatter. It let out an almighty screech and flew at high speed back into the sky. Its wings began to flap more fiercely, causing a huge blast of air to whip up a storm of dust from the ground. The group began to cough and splutter and that was when Quintus saw his chance. Whilst the Scouts, Caliban, Florizel and Nerissa were protecting their faces from the dirt he drew a handful of silver-blue powder out of the small leather bag that Lucilius had given him. He threw the powder into the strong blast of air, causing it to travel in the air towards the Scouts. As soon as it touched them it sunk into their skin and clothes, however as they had their arms up to their faces they never noticed.

"Mercury Bubbles!" Sailor Mercury somehow managed to fight against the Lydria-made wind in order to attack; the cold bubbles were enough to push back the blast and Lydria almost fell out of the sky as the icy mist hit him. Letting out an angry cry the creature brought his left wing across his body then flung it back again, firing the feathers from it as he dropped to the ground. One of the feathers hit Jupiter on the leg; she fell to the ground rubbing the red patch it had left on her skin.

"Watch out, guys, they're hot!" she called. Mars swiftly dodged another one and stopped dead, her dark eyes narrow.

"Nothing's gonna stop me from seeing my best friend again!" she yelled. Sailors Moon and Venus joined her quickly.

"I think it's about time we showed this Lydria the true power of friendship!" Sailor Moon announced, pulling her tiara from her forehead.

"Yeah!" Venus agreed.

"Let's do it!" Sailor Jupiter stepped over to them as well.

"Moon Tiara…"

"Venus Crescent Beam…"

"Mars Celestial Fire…"

"Sparking Wide…"

"Magic!"

"Smash!"

"Surround!"

"Pressure!"

The attacks of Mars, Venus and Jupiter combined with the tiara-discus, which Lydria simply knocked away as if it were a plastic Frisbee. The four Scouts looked shocked.

"Our attacks are useless!" they called, their opponent laughing harshly.

x x x x x

Charon let out a low groan as she dragged her weary body along the hard floor to lean against the wall opposite to the door. Every inch of her was aching and weary and if she had actually been able to see anything she would have realised that her vision was blurred. Not long after she had woken from her dream she had been dragged out of her cell again and forced to walk right around the ship. Anytime she had stumbled she had been prodded hard with a wooden staff which one of the guards surrounding her was carrying. Whenever her legs completely gave way she was simply left to crawl, causing her already grazed knees to burn. During their little 'tour' of the ship something rather odd had happened too, she had been getting back to her feet and had been covered in a storm of dust…

She leant her aching head back and carefully opened her eyes, choosing to recall her time with Rei instead of this strange event - the Scouts were coming for her!

"Idiots, they should keep away." she muttered to herself. "It's enough that one of us is trapped here without them risking their necks over me." She didn't mean it, the thought that her friends were coming filled her with hope - there were 5 of them, plus Caliban - they would have no problem getting her out of there, she was sure of it.

Still, if there was a way she could escape by herself before they arrived…

Suddenly it all flooded back to her - before she'd blacked out, hadn't she summoned the Plutonian Sphere?

Her eyes strained to see through the thick blackness to the place where she'd dropped the Plutonian Sphere…Or at least where she thought she'd dropped it…

It was gone.

"No…" she murmured, panic raising within her. "Where is it…?" in a burst of energy she leapt up and looked around her, before falling again. "No…" she whispered, breaking down again. "Damn you, Charon, it's all your fault for blacking out!" What could she do now? Only one thing, wait for the guards to come back and find the power from somewhere to attack them…

She had to, it was the only way…

With that, she closed her eyes again and concentrated on trying to collect what little energy she had left.

x x x x x

Meanwhile the fight on Earth was hotting up. Lydria had used all his wing feathers, and so was now stalking around the group on all fours, eyes burning wildly as it waited for the best moment to strike. Caliban took a step forward, his sword drawn and ready. Lydria rose onto his back legs and let out a roar as he charged the prince, who, thanks to his many dance lessons, simply spun out of the way. The beast fell back down onto all fours, snarling as he turned sharply to face Caliban again just as the youth sent a ball of energy from the tip of his sword. Lydria shook his head as the ball hit him but simply fizzled out upon contact.

"All I can do is tire him out!" he yelled at the Scouts. "My attacks are not effective against fire!" Mercury once again stepped forward.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" her ice attack hit Lydria's body, but melted. It called out with rage and turned to face the Scout. It charged towards her at full speed and knocked her to the ground with a cry.

"Sailor Mercury!" the others yelled.

"Reimo Power - Transform!" Came a cry from nearby, and the Scouts turned just in time to see Nerissa transform into Reimo Guardian.

"But you're injured!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed.

"I know, but you need my help!" she responded, aiming her staff at Lydria. "Glittering Ice!" A barrage of small, white stars shot out from the end of the staff and struck the opponent full on. Lydria let out an almighty pain-filled shriek. "My attack is more effective than Mercury's simply because Zai is the Fire Moon of Reimo," she explained as she fired more of the freezing stars, "and I'm from the Ice Moon - Glazos! We're exact opposites!"

"Now!" Caliban yelled, powering up another ball of pale blue energy at the tip of his sword. "Everyone attack!"

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"

"Jupiter Thunder!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

All five attacks hit Lydria and he screamed out in pain.

"Finish it, Sailor Moon!" Nerissa ordered over the shrieks.

"Right!" The leader of the Sailor Scouts drew out the sceptre and swung it around her head and body.

"Moon Sceptre Activation!"

Lydria let out a final ear-piercing scream, before disintegrating into dust. "Now for the nasty old man!" She swung around, and pointed her sceptre to where Quintus had been.

"Damn." Caliban cursed; Venus walked over to him.

"It's alright, we can get him later. Right now we've gotta go rescue Charon!" Caliban smiled.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Let's go!" Sailor Mars ran towards the ship. "We can't waste anymore time!" as she boarded she thought:

Don't worry Charon, we're on our way…

x x x x x

A few minutes later, and Caliban was stood at a window in Florizel's ship, looking out at the space that was rushing past them at high speed.

"Oh Charon," he sighed out loud. "Please hold on, just a few minutes longer…"

"Caliban," Sailor Mars walked up to him, her dark eyes full of sympathy and understanding. "I know how worried you are about her, we all feel the same." She stood next to him, looking out at how the stars seemed to stretch on forever in the darkness. "I can't stop thinking about the look of fear in her eyes when I contacted her…" she let out a shaky breath as she thought about it. "I can't wait to see her again." Her eyes narrowed as she regarded the purple ship that was increasing in size quickly as they drew nearer. "We're here." She announced, turning back to the others. Sailor Moon managed to flash a reassuring smile at the rest of her team.

"Are you all ready?" she asked. The other Scouts and Caliban nodded. Nerissa stood close by, her hands clasped as if she were praying.

"Time to teleport." Sailor Mercury said, taking hold of Jupiter's hand. They formed a circle, including Caliban, immediately.

"Planet Power - Teleport!" The girls called, and disappeared in a flash of rainbow-coloured light.

"Good luck, Sailor Scouts." Nerissa murmured, allowing her hands to drop to her sides. Florizel took one in his own, squeezing it comfortingly.

"They'll be fine." he said confidently. "Let us just hope that Charon is…"

x x x x x

"My lord, they're here." Quintus cringed lower than ever, awaiting his master's wrath for failing his mission.

"Very well," came the unexpected response. Lucilius was sat on his throne, looking surprisingly calm. He looked down at the cowering Quintus. "Oh, I never did congratulate you, Quintus, on a job well done." the old man looked up, confused.

"What do you mean, master? The Sailor Scouts defeated me…" Lucilius lifted a hand.

"No, no, they didn't," he smiled. "You just wait and see…"

x x x x x

"The coast is clear. Let's split into our teams and get moving." Mercury said quickly, activating her VR visor and starting to tap on the keys of her hand-held computer.

"Okay, good luck!" Sailor Moon said to Mars, Venus and Mercury.

"You too!" Venus said as they began to run down a corridor.

"I'm trying to locate Charon's Planet Power," Mercury told them, continuing to tap away. "I believe I have found it, but it is a very weak reading."

"I've found her," Sailor Mars announced. "I can sense her nearby!"

The three Scouts continued to charge down the corridors, until they reached a darkened one. Mercury pressed a few more keys on her computer, then pressed a series of buttons on a wall.

"And let there be light!" She announced as the lights switched on. Venus and Mars ran forward.

"This cell here!" Mars and Mercury both exclaimed at the same time. Mercury consulted her computer again and worked out the combination.

"12, 42, 36, 84." she said to Venus, who tapped the numbers into the keypad on the door. There was a metallic clang, then the door swung open…

Sailor Charon, who was still leaning against the wall, opened her eyes as soon as she heard the footsteps in the hallway. She heard the muffled voices on the other side of the door and prepared herself…

The first thing Venus, Mercury and Mars saw was their friend stood on her feet.

The first thing Charon saw, as her vision was blurred, were three indistinguishable figures.

"Charon Psy-"

"She's going to attack us!" Venus exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Waaa…uuuuhhhh…" the green-haired Scout's pale eyes rolled back as her energy failed her and she promptly fainted.

"Sailor Charon!!" all three of the Scouts exclaimed, running to her.

"Is she okay?" Mars exclaimed as Mercury checked their team mate over.

"Just exhausted." the blue-haired Scout reassured. "We'll have to carry her." Venus and Mars took a leg and an arm each and lifted the unconscious girl in a sitting position.

"Right, let's go find the others." Mercury announced, leaving the room ahead of them.

x x x x x

While this was happening the Scouts of the Moon and Jupiter were going in the opposite direction, Caliban leading the way.

"This way!" He called over his shoulder as they ran up a corridor, whilst he noticed was strangely void of guards. "We're almost there!"

They reached a door, which slid open to reveal a beautifully decorated corridor on the other side; one wall of which was entirely made of windows. Caliban felt a tremor of nerves and excitement go down his back as he faced the double doors, which led to the throne room.

"Here we go." Sailor Jupiter took a deep breath, before running forward and pushing the doors open, causing them to crash against the walls on the other side. The trio then marched up to where Lucilius was sat, a ridiculous smirk on his face.

"Welcome, Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, Caliban." he said rather too hospitably. "What a pleasant surprise this is! If I'd known to expect company I would have had the chef prepare a feast!" He sighed and shook his head, which he had lowered. "Anyway, I suppose you are here to see your dear friend, rather than yours truly." he lifted his head, showing the wicked grin he was wearing. "Well, I am afraid that she is…unavailable for appointments…at the moment." It took all the willpower Caliban had to stop him from rushing forward and dragging the smirking Lucilius from his throne by his throat.

"What have you done to her? Where is she?" He demanded loudly, taking a step forward.

"Right here!"

They all turned to face Mercury, Venus and Mars, the latter of whom were still carrying the out cold Charon.

"Charon!" Sailors Moon and Jupiter exclaimed, and ran to join their friends, forgetting where they were for the moment.

"Is she alright?" Sailor Moon asked gently.

"Just overcome with exhaustion, I think." Mercury informed them.

"Urgh, so you finally arrived." Charon groaned, opening her eyes. "Put me down, guys, I'll be okay." she murmured. The Scouts of Mars and Venus complied, and placed the worn-out girl on the floor. She stood rather shakily, reaching out for Mars's arm, before getting her balance.

Caliban, finally taking his narrowed eyes off Lucilius, walked up to her and took hold of her hands.

"What has he done to you…?" He murmured, regarding her pale, injured face.

"Oh, hey, Caliban," the green-haired girl said, very obviously still half-asleep and disoriented. She fell into his arms. "I missed you."

"Enough of this reconciliation!" Lucilius suddenly yelled, angry about the lack of attention he was getting. "Now you are all here it is time we got down to business."

He pressed a button on his throne and the floor began to shake. The Scouts and Caliban tried to keep their balance as the floor slid open in front of them, and a huge machine came up from the hole. It was a strange looking contraption, and in the centre held between two claws was -

"The Plutonian Sphere!" Charon suddenly yelled, waking up suddenly. Lucilius laughed as he got up and walked over to the machine.

"Beautiful, isn't it? My most wondrous creation." he walked around it, looking proud. "This little thing will change everything."

"It isn't your creation - we know where you got the blueprints from!" Venus announced, her blue eyes narrow.

"Guys…what is it? Where are the blueprints from…?" Charon murmured nervously, still in Caliban's arms.

It's okay, Charon, I promise you.

It took the girl a moment to realise that she wasn't imagining the voice in her head; she still hadn't come to terms with her telepathic bond to Sailor Mars. She looked over at her raven-haired best friend, who smiled reassuringly at her.

"Well," he smiled. "Since you know about the blueprints I'm sure you know how it works…" He chuckled to himself as he gazed at them. "And so, my dear Sailor Scouts, tonight shall be the night that I return to my full glory!" he let out a loud, rather maniacal, laugh.

"And how exactly will this be accomplished, when you have failed to place us in contact with the special powder we know you need to obtain our Planet Power?" Mercury inquired; Lucilius continued to smile broadly as he explained:

"Ahhh, that is where you are wrong, Sailor Mercury." Almost as if on cue, Quintus shuffled into the room. "You see, while you were fighting Lydria, Quintus covered you in that very powder, and it is now lying dormant in your systems." He started to laugh again.

"But what about Charon? She wasn't with us." Jupiter pointed out.

"He got me too…" Sailor Charon announced quietly, remembering the cloud of dust she'd walked through earlier.

"So, care for a demonstration?" Lucilius's voice broke the Charonian's thoughts and she gasped loudly as he pulled the lever.

The other Scouts and Caliban looked at one another, confused, as the machine started to make a whirring noise and a long mast, which looked rather like a lightning conductor, rose up near the Plutonian Sphere.

When Florizel said the machine wouldn't work, they all wondered, did he mean that it wouldn't even start up or that it would power up but not actually collect their Planet Power?

Their question was soon answered as they felt something deep within themselves.

Their energy draining - quickly.

"Oh, by the way," Lucilius smirked as the girls stared in shock. "I forgot to mention that before I starting building I had someone check over the blueprints. They noticed a few discrepancies with the settings. No worries, we soon fixed that." He placed his hands on the Plutonian Sphere, which at that moment was collecting particles of Planet Power that had seemingly just appeared from nowhere…

…What the…?! Merula gasped as she fell from the bench she had been sitting on and landed heavily onto her hands and knees. She'd been sat rather contentedly in Hyde Park when all of a sudden she'd felt like someone had hit her hard in the stomach. She screwed her eyes shut as she fought to catch her breath and calm her racing heart before someone saw her and wondered what was wrong. What the heck's happening to me?! It feels like someone's-

Her dark eyes flew open again as it became clear to her:

Someone must have been draining Sailor Mercury's power, and since they were linked by the Planet Power that Merula had stolen from the Mercurian in order to become Sailor Universe, hers was being taken along with it!

She gasped once more, this time in horror as she saw particles of Planet Power being drawn out of her skin like tiny specks of blue dust.

"No, no, this can't be happening!" she exclaimed, pushing herself up into a sitting position. Her face paled as she desperately reached up her arms and tried rather hopelessly to snatch the fragments out of the air before they vanished. However, she quickly discovered the more she struggled the weaker she became, and before long she let out a weary moan and slumped forward.

"Merula? Oh my goodness, Merula!" a voice suddenly rang in her ears, bringing her away from the black void she was about to enter. Alice, the waitress she'd become acquainted with days before, ran over, dropping the two ice cream cones she was carrying. "Merula, whatever happened? You look terrible!" The girl helped her weakened companion back onto the bench and pushed her hair gently out of her face. "You're so cold!" she gasped, flinching as her hand came into contact with Merula's cheek. "We should get you to a doctor!"

"No!" Merula snapped, causing the English girl to jump. "I'm sorry…it's just I hate doctors. I just need to lie down for a while." She closed her eyes.

"Okay, let's get you back to your hotel room," Alice announced. "But if you're not better in a couple of hours then I'm calling a doctor, and you can't stop me!"

"Yes, ma'am." Merula muttered, feeling too drained to argue anymore…

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Sailors Moon, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars were on their hands on knees, weakening quickly. Sailor Charon was being cradled by Caliban as she lay on the ground, her face contorted with pain as she gasped for air; her arms were numb as they hung down by her sides and she hadn't been able to feel her legs for several minutes.

She could feel her life slipping away.

It's over, she thought, this is the end of me.

Lucilius's laughter and the loud shuddering of the machine caused her ears to throb and her head to ache.

"Hold on, Charon, don't leave me!" Caliban didn't know what to do. Part of him knew he should try to stop the machine, but the other part of him wanted to stay at Charon's side. She's dying…I know she is. He thought anxiously, and he knew he had to stop Lucilius. Carefully letting the Scout's head touch the floor he got to his feet.

"This is the end!" he roared over the noise of the machine, and, pointing the tip of his sword at the foul creation, fired three large balls of energy at the Plutonian Sphere, which collected them just as it had the Scouts' Planet Power.

The light that the Sphere was radiating became blindingly bright and the machine started to shake violently as an alarm sounded.

"Too much pressure!" Quintus exclaimed, staring at Lucilius, who was also surrounded by the light of the Sphere, which he still had his hands on. "The ship will explode if we don't stop it!"

"No!" Lucilius yelled angrily. "It's almost done!" Caliban looked at the Scouts, frozen with shock.

"Caliban - get the Scouts to teleport out of there! We've detected a huge pressure build-up." Florizel said over his communicator.

"Right - come on Scouts!" he scooped Charon up in his arms. Knowing how much danger they were in the others all found their second wind and got up.

"Planet Power - Teleport!" They called as they swiftly formed a circle around Caliban. Thankfully they still had enough power to transport themselves to Florizel's ship, but collapsed as soon as they got there.

"Let's get out of here." Florizel said to Nerissa.

"Right." Nerissa nodded, pressing a few keys, silently thanking whatever great spirit was watching over the Scouts.

x x x x x

Venus and Mercury were watching from a window as Lucilius's ship suddenly exploded.

"It's over," Venus sighed, wiping the back of her hand over her weary eyes. "The end at last."

"Yes." Mercury remarked, leaning her head back against the seat she was in and closing her eyes.

Caliban was next to Charon, watching as sat silently with tears in her eyes. She had come round just after they teleported back.

"Charon…" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped. She immediately relaxed again as she remembered where she was and who she was with.

"I'm sorry," she apologised quietly. "I guess I'm still kinda edgy." He nodded, then she threw herself into his arms. "Oh, Caliban! Is it really over?"

"The ship exploded. No one could've survived." he whispered into her hair. "You're safe now, my Princess, no one can hurt you here. I wouldn't let them anyway, even if they could." She pulled away from him, her arms still around his shoulders.

"You promise?" She whispered.

"I promise." She let out another loud sob and then leant forward to kiss him over and over - his lips, his cheeks, his entire face.

"Charon?" Another voice spoke up from over the couple, and they looked up at Sailor Mars, who was stood looking a little embarrassed. "I'm, uh, sorry to interrupt but…"

"I understand," Caliban smiled at her. "I'll leave you to it." he stood up and gave Mars's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving the two girls to talk.

"I…" Mars began as she took Caliban's seat, however she never got to finish because Charon had raised her hand.

"You know that I know what you're going to say," she announced. "And you know I forgive you! I already told you that."

"No, I need to do this properly, Charon." The black-haired Scout protested. "So, be quiet! I forgive you for lying to me, and I'm sorry for not talking to you." Charon leant forward to embrace her.

"Let's try not to argue ever again, okay?"

"That's a deal." The two girls smiled at each other, and for some unknown reason started to laugh, albeit rather weakly as they were both too tired. "Now let's go home, Estrella will be so happy to see you."

"Yes, home." the Scout of Charon leant back against her seat and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling extremely weary again. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for a month.

Finally, the hell was over.

All was silent as the shredded and twisted remains of Lucilius's ship floated along to nowhere.

The silence was short-lived.

A deep, throaty laugh soon filled the emptiness.

"You haven't won yet, Sailor Scouts."