"My, my," I say as I listen to the conversation, "Tough words, Omega-Xis, but I am tougher than you think."

"Aries!" a voice calls.

I turn and see Crown Lily.

"Oh, Deliliah!" I say, "Nice to see you again. Returned from Earth?"

"Yes, Aries," Crown Lily snarls, "but enough casualties. Now is the time."

"The other sibling is done?" I say.

Time to see if I need my backup soldiers.

"Yes," Crown Lily says, her tension flowing out of her, "I see you've been waiting patiently enough. All the FM-ians in this...council have gathered to find who the sibling picks."

"Show me the way, then," I say.

Crown Lily begins walking, and I follow.

When we enter the throne room, a great sight causes me to nearly gasp.

The containment area for the boy is in the room, and all the FM-ians are surrounding the cage.

"Enough," Crown Lily says with a tone of authority, "the boy- Michael- must decide: who will he be host to?"

Cheers roar through the crowd.

I notice Taurus outside the crowd, and go over to the bull FM-ian.

"Taurus?" I say, "Are you excited?"

Taurus snorts and says, "Not like I can use it. I've already had two chances to apprehend Omega-Xis, and I failed twice. I just hope that the sibling will be useful to his FM-ian."

"Yeah," I say, "I'm hoping that I'll be the FM-ian. I know that I can place my full power inside a human, and this human is promising."

"It's a clone Aquarius made," Taurus says, "and you know Aquarius. Crafty, unperdictable...not to mention an assassin. Who knows what he put inside that clone?"

"Nothing that would harm us too much!" a voice says behind us.

We turn to see Libra.

"Libra!" Taurus says, "We didn't notice you coming!"

"Of course," Libra says with a slight chuckle, "but I've been so busy that I haven't been coming to the court. You see, I've been balancing decisions galore...being the FM-ian of balance, I've had to be busy."

"What sort of decisions?" I ask.

"Whether to try again," Libra says, "to catch Omega-Xis. I've been restless with the balancing, but I've finally decided to take a chance. That is, if I get a new host."

"You haven't been showing up at the palace lately," Taurus says, "but who would? Crown Lily- that is, the one we've talked to, Crown's human/FM-ian form- is getting quite envious of the throne."

"Yeah," I say, "Crown Lily tried to bargain with MegaGirl to take the throne while Aquarius was on the throne. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"Her odds are quite average, really," Libra confesses, "She does have the wealth a ruler would have, and her authority is not to be questioned. There are a few slight flaws, though. Fatal, if you take it that extreme. She has more humanity than Crown's last host left, and she hasn't bent to our will completely."

"That explains her near betrayal," Taurus agrees.

"She also has a life with MegaGirl," Libra says, "she goes to the same school as MegaGirl and Lyra Melody."

"So you heard about Ophiuca? And the encounter with Primal Forme?" I say.

Libra nods gravely and says, "Indeed. Omega-Xis and his human need to be careful with Primal Forme. I remember the last time some FM-ian lost control of that power..."

"Destroyed an entire human planet, I remember!" Taurus says, "But the two kept on ravaging, and eventually the FM King at the time had to put them to sleep. I think they're still on FM, sleeping somewhere."

"Hush!" Crown Lily's voice says, startling us silent.