As she arches backward due to the explosion, she notices it has sent the others back a few feet. Virgo had been unable to brace his fall in time. And so had been rendered unconscious as his head met the floor. Millerna is currently tending to him. Leo is in Van's embrace. Dryden is by his wife's side. Chi'd is asking Leo if he is alright. Atlantis is by her side, asking if she is okay. She responds in the afffirmative. She gets up regaining her balance. She makes her way to her father. Atlantis behind her. " Are you all alright." " We are fine, just a little shaken." Millerna answers her question. "Leo, your majesty?" Her father simply nods his head with a forced smile. "Zodiac." Leo happily cries out, reaching for her. "It's okay now, Leo." She reassures him as she takes him in her arms. She senses things are going to get a lot worse, before they ever get better. However, she didn't need to burden the 8 year old with this knowledge. She told her father as much in private. Her father reassured her he would be fine, for her to go check on her brother and sister. She is running out of the room, as she hears her father telling the others to stay put.
Hitomi had been in the library giving Venus and Neptune, their daily lessons. She felt them too young to witness their sister practice her sword techniques. After the explosion had happened, she had acted on maternal instinct, ushering her children to where she felt it to be safe. Although, they had never managed to make it there. They had been in the foyer, when a hand reached out from the shadows knocking her unconscious. The person revealed himself a moment later. The frightened children found out quickly, he hadn't been alone. They felt his companions' eyes on them, eagerly waiting.
As they are closing the distance between them and the children, they were halted by the new arrival, for she comes out of nowhere. Knowing they had been in the library, she had gone there first. When she saw that they weren't there, she performed an incantation allowing her to be in proximity of where her siblings are. She had made it to the hallway leading up to the foyer staircase. Seeing what is unfolding beneath her, she abandons all regards for her safety. She walks to the wall. Feeling it against her back, she prepares herself for what she is about to do. She picks up the pace to a running mode again. As she reaches the banister, she jumps onto it, before letting herself fall. Somersalting in the air, she lands facing her enemies. Drawing her sword, she had managed to mortally wound one of them while landing. Making her falling, landing and everything in between seem like one graceful motion. "Zodiac." Venus cries in desperation. She turns to see one of them holding Neptune tightly.
The stranger questions her. "Why are you fighting so hard for people not related to you?" "It's my duty to serve the crown of Fanelia." "What's your reason, for wanting to hurt innocents." He laughs at her question. "Girl, we are here today, for we don't believe any Fanelian to be innocent, especially your majesties." "What?" He introduces himself as the leader of the remnant of Dornkirk's followers. "Your king and queen are responible for our leader's demise." "We know Van of Fanelia married the girl from the Mystic Moon." "She aided him every step of the way during the war." "You must take me for an idiot." "You are making it seem like I don't know my own country's history." "Enough talk, release the boy." As she says this, she makes the grip on her sword tighter. He just gives her a smug smile for her answer. Her frustration at being unable to do anything, leaves her helpless.
The next moment, her rising desperation causes her to feel something new. She feels the magic coursing through her. Her birthright her father has passed on to his children. Although for their kind (Draconians), it remains dormant until the need arises. This is one definetly one of those times. This is a different kind of magic. The incantation was something she had learned. This feeling is totally biological. She knows what to do instinctively. The man feels something grab him before he is flung against the wall. Neptune takes Venus in a bear hug. As she is crying, he tells her he will protect her, and let nothing happen to her. They rush to their sister, knowing she will prevent harm coming to them. She engulfs them with a shield, daring her opponents to attack with her eyes. One man and two women reply to the challenge. Knowing it won't hold for long, because she is quickly pushing the limits of her newly discovered ability. She hugs her brother and sister to be safe as she hugs them. She gives them their mother's pendant. She begins the incantation.
Gaea, hear my plea.
Protect them.
Send them to safety.
That their memories,
are restored at the proper time.
That I may not succumb,
to their torture.
That I endure,
until the time of their return is at hand.
I beg of thee.
The next moment, her younger siblings are engulfed in a light. Venus reaches her hand out to her, Their fingers barely touch, before they are gone. The shield disappears. Exhausted, she pitchs forward. Her powers had taken more out of her, than she suspected. Due to this, she is forced to comply with her enemies, desiring her surrender. The leader inquires about Van. "You are wasting your time." "My king and his family have made it to safety." Through her powers, she sensed him, his family, and friends coming her way. She had sent her mother to safety through the same incantation, she had used to get where she currently is. From deep in her soul, she pulls out the last of her power, masking their approaching arrival. As she is still facing the staircase, she slowly shakes her head, convenying the message to her father. The leader turns around but sees no one there. He leads her out with his comrades behind him, knowing another chance to destroy Fanelia's royal family will present itself. In the years to come, Virgo would be the first to die. Only to be followed by Leo; Van and Hitomi barely surviving on both accounts.
For twelve years, they did everything humanly possible to break her. They would poison her. They denied her water and food frequently. They would rape her. They would beat her to the point, that it seemed she was on the verge of death. Yet, due to her incantation, her body tolerated these things. She hoped that her father, mother, siblings and friends were safe. Unaware, that Atlantis had realized he had in fact loved her, upon her departuare. His emotion caused him to wholeheartedly, take up her postion as Van's bodyguard, until her return. Somehow, he knew she would. His decision had caused him to reliquish the claim of Asturia's throne, not that it bothered him or his parents. It simply went to Pluto.
She is sleeping in her cell when she feels the stirring of something within her. Something she has not felt, since her capture all those years ago. She doesn't know how it happens, but two wraith like creatures come out of her chest. The next feeling lets her know how they appeared, because the time for Neptune and Venus's return is close at hand. The creatures are now on each of her shoulders. They have taken the form of dragons. She holds out her arms. They accepted the invitation. Now perching on her forearms, they look at her with utter obedience and loyalty. The one on her right she names Falcon. The one on her left she names Hawk. She gives them their first order. They are to observe her captors, undetected and report back to her. She is once again alone.
The Harrisons' had adopted them. Her and her brother could not recall their lives, before they had been found, in a park in the late hours of the evening. She knows her brother would wish for those lost memories at times, just like she would. Not knowing who they belonged to. Not knowing who loved them before the Harrisons' came into their lives. They had come home tired after grueling practices at basketball and soccer. When they had arrived at the house, they both felt something akin to an electric shock go through them. Fainting from the experinence, they are discovered by their adopted parents an hour later.
While they had been unconscious, she came to them. They have deja vu. She is vaguely familiar. She slowly starts to come into focus. She has long medium green hair and intense amber eyes. She is wearing a purple body suit. She exudes strength. "The time has come...I release you two." "Zodiac." They both exclaim. She has a sad smile on her face. "It is time for your return; Neptune, Venus." They embrace her..."Sister." She holds them in her arms, before vanishing, and them being engulfed in a white light. The next minute, they are within the confines of the Fanelia castle. A sword is drawn at their necks. They see Atlantis is behind the attack. He escorts them to the throne room.
Feeling the time to escape has to be now. She knows another or better opporunity won't ever present itself. She starts to pull against her shackles. They started to move but in the end, they don't budge enough. She is going to have to wait for Falcon and Hawk to return. They should be back any minute. Praying quietly for her siblings' safe return, she hears them enter the cell. They land on the chains as she mentally gives them the impression of what needs to be done. Withstanding the heat of the flames, she is free in the next minute. She manages to make it to the heart of the ship, where the hatch is located. Along the way, Falcon and Hawk disappear. They had entered her body once again.
Just as she is about to make her escape, she is pierced through her right shoulder, unexpectedly from behind. Due to her years of torture had left her weak, therefore, the cause for her attacker's presence going unaware. She turns on them, to see its the leader. Raising her sword, she takes a step in his direction. She falters the next, for she has once again been attacked from behind. This time by arrows. Knowing she no longer stands a chance in her state, her desperation kicks in. Holding her shoulder, two swirls of power make a complete circle around her, before vanishing. As she accomplishes in picking up her fallen sword with her left hand, she tries once more. This time she succeeds. The swirls of power reappear. Once again making a complete circle, only this time they were stronger; knocking those closest to it off balance.
Although, two new things happen, taking the name Draconian to a new level. She erupts from all the pain she had to endure, over the years. Throwing her head back she screams out her anguish. Dragon wings and tail come out of the appropriate areas on her body. Her attackers are struck dumb. The leader recovers quickly. "Well, this explains things more...Your father did very well at keeping you a secret." His second in command questions him. "Sir?" "You see the king of Fanelia is a Draconian, and from what we know Folken never had any children...Although I could be mistaken, though I don't think I am, get it now?"
"Girl, you are right in one regard...I do hope you forgive me...If anyone is dumb its I, for your hair and eye color are a dead give away of you being related to the Fanelia's royal family...I had just thought it a strong concidence all this years, believing your father's explantion of your lineage." "Well, good for you...I applaud your intelligence." She retorts. Not wanting to waste anymore time, using her power she pushes the newly found release for the hatch. Upon its being opened, wind is try to suck up anything in its path. Her power is anchoring her as she draws nearer. She stands on the edge for a moment, still facing them. She salutes them for all their failed attempts to break her. She turns her back to them as the leader screams for them to attack her. She lets the wind embrace her. As she starts to free fall, her wings and tail disappear. She faints the next moment.
A few minutes later, she awakens to see she is half way from reaching the ground beneath her. As it is drawing closer, her wings and tail return. She uses her wings to buffer her ungraceful landing. She lands on her stomach. She had been in the process of using her tail for balance, to no avail. She wound up pitching forward instead, smacking her head rather hard against a tree trunk. Clumsily getting up, she sees her two of her rivals leaving their ship. No doubt to search for her. Using her reserve power, she causes the ship to exploded. Hiding herself behind a tree, so as not to be caught due to the hovering fire. She commands her tail to pull the sword still enlodged in her out, leaving the arrows for they would take up too much time. Still holding her arm, she starts to move as Falcon and Hawk reappear. She knows she no longer stands a chance. Yet she has to at least make it to Fanelia, before succumbing to her long standing internal and recent injuries.
Van and Hitomi rise at Atlantis's unannonced intrusion. Atlantis starts to explain the situation, when Venus runs to them followed by Neptune. Hitomi stands still for an instant before moving. Her maternal instinct telling her who these two people are. She embraces them fiercely, crying tears of joy. Watching the interaction, Van slowly comes to the same conclusion. He reaches his wife and lost children, as Atlantis makes a good attempt at giving the family privacy. "Venus, Neptune." She says kissing their foreheads. "I prefer Valeria now, mother." "Of course." Hitomi turns to her son. "Neptune's fine with me." They spend the rest of the evening talking. They retired before their parents.
Hitomi and Van stayed in the throne room. As she starts crying, her husband takes her in his arms. "I thought we had lost all our children...I wonder if Zodiac could still be alive." "Knowing her she no doubt is." He replies wiping the tears from her eyes. Smiling at her, before giving her a tender and passionate kiss. She is responding, for they haven't had many opporunities to do this over the recent years, much less be physically intimate, when they are once again disturbed by Atlantis. He bows and instantly apologizes. "Forgive me, your majesties...But intruders have been spotted entering Fanelia. Hitomi and Atlantis follow her husband.
At long last, she has made it. She has traveled for countless hours. Somehow along the way, she had managed to lose her pursers, momentarily. She is beyond exhaustion. She is only going on auto pilot. She is so thirsty. She is on the outskirts of Fanelia when they caught up with her. She blocked the leader's attack. Yet is unable to escape his second in command who drives a dagger thru her right hand. She pulls it out with a grunt of pain. They make the mistake thinking one as weak as her can't hurt them. Though done through blurry vision and unsteady feet, she manages to prove them wrong. She smiles in the fact that she has finally eliminated the danger to her family and country. "I got the last laugh." She tells the dying leader.
Throwing the sword down, she sees her target in the distance. She resumes walking. She reaches the castle's gate an hour later. Normally, it is a ten minute walk. The king, queen and their bodyguard had been waiting for the intuders' arrival. Once they recongnize her, they run to her. She pitches backward just as Van halts her fall. She reaches for his hand, tears in her eyes. "Everything will be alright...You'll survive." She smiles sadly at him, while shaking her head. Hitomi and Atlantis reach them the next moment. She turns and looks at her queen with a geniune smile, before turning it to her father. "Thank you, Atlantis...Mom; Dad, I'm sorry." The hand in her king's goes slack and her breathing stops. "Strategos." Van says in anguish. Hitomi cries in Atlantis arms. As she is dying, she is approached by a familiar stranger. She looks up to see a man who shares the same hair color as her, only his is lighter. "It's safe for you to come home...They will be alright...They will only hurt for a while." Her answer is her accepting his hand.
The funeral takes place, a week after her death. They give her a ceremony worthy of a warrior. Her father made sure she would be buried in her purple body armor. Her sword had been retrieved and cleaned. It is now in her hands. Her arms over her chest. Her sword underneath them. He ran his hand along her cheek. Tears in his eyes before kissing her cheek. Two days after her death, Van made the decision to have Atlantis wed Valeria. He had explained the situation to them. Valeria said she would do what is necessary for her country, even if she wasn't in love with him. But Atlantis refused, he said he couldn't because he would always be in love with Zodiac, and no other woman could ever come close. Van found out his council had been responsible for the attacks against his family, a year later. He had them arrested and that is where they stayed for the rest of their lives'. He found more reliable, loyal people to take their place. Due to Strategos efforts, Fanelia would experience peace. Valeria ruled with a kind yet firm hand. She appointed Neptune her second in command. Atlantis continued serving as Fanelia's personal bodyguard. Van and Hitomi became the head of Fanelia's council, after reliquishing their crowns, two years before they died. All in all, Fanelia enjoyed more peace than it had in countless years.
