Uranus looked at the pieces on the floor.
"And what is this?" she asked confused.
"You didn't kill her, you just destroyed a form of her. A witch cannot be killed by sword. Didn't you know this?" Michiru asked.
"And how was I supposed to know? From my knowledge witches disappeared centuries ago" the blonde said annoyed.
"They never did, truly. Their power was weakened. You are born with witch powers or not. Like we were born soldiers of our planets. But you also can chose to be a witch or not".
Uranus looked long at her, the puzzle in her head falling in order.
"So, after all you are also a witch aren't you? It runs in your family".
"I was born one, I never chose to be one" Michiru approached placing her hand on Uranus' sword. She cut her finger, red blood dripping from it. "Your proof. Anyway this is bad, you…"
"Stop blaming me! At least we got rid of her for a while" the blonde angered.
"No, Uranus, what she means…" Mercury stepped in.
"What does she mean, Mercury? Maybe if you would have warned me, the outcome of this story would have been another. You suspected what Nixie was. So did Saturn! And you…you could have told me what your sister is" she turned to Michiru.
"You would have taken is as a lie, you couldn't even trust me to begin with!".
"Don't forget you tried to kill me!"
"It wasn't me, it was my curse" her voice rose a little.
"But don't blame me for…" Uranus' vision went black, she felt the loss of air in her lunges, the weakness in her limbs.
"Try to calm down and listen to me" Michiru rushed to her.
"I am sick of this and…" but Uranus just fainted, being held by Michiru to not fall down.
"What's going on?" Mars asked as she helped Michiru sit Uranus on a chair.
"It's the witches curse. You try killing her, she kills you. It's like a poison that gets into your blood, the minute a sword touches her".
"Can we get it out of her?" Serena rushed to them.
"I will try" Michiru whispered stroking the strands out of Haruka's eyes.
"It will be in vein" Saturn crossed her arms. "Death has entered her".
"Don't talk like this" Serena turned to her.
Saturn approached and looked long at Uranus. She smiled a little.
"You are powerful, Michiru. And she is lucky" she said making all look at her. "Name her Neptune again. Give her back all her rights and powers" she turned to Serena.
The blonde woman held her breathe for a second, but Saturn was decided.
"Michiru I name you Neptune once again. May you rule your planet with wisdom".
Uranus opened her heavy eyes. She was in her room, on her planet. Her body was weak and her mind still blurred.
"Hello, stranger" Neptune whispered softly, cleaning the blonde's forehead.
Uranus looked at the woman. Her clothes remained as elegant as the last night, but her face was changed. She looked tired, black circles forming under her eyes. But even so, her beauty was increasing.
"I feel like I have the worst hangover of my life" Uranus whispered weak.
"You'll be fine" Michiru stroked the woman's cheek. "Rest for a little bit more".
"I think I will" the blonde closed her eyes again.
Michiru sighted. She placed her head on the bed and sighted again.
It was night when Uranus woke up a second time. This time she found Venus by her side.
"Finally" the woman said content. "We came the minute we heard".
"The minute you heard what?" Uranus asked feeling her words made more sense.
"That you woke up, that you are safe!"
"What are you talking about, Mina? How long have I slept?"
"For about three months" Mercury replied brining a glass of water.
"What?" Uranus rose her upper body, but her bones still hurt.
"Have a sip" Mercury handed the woman a glass sitting on a chair next to Mina. "When you destroyed a part of Nixie, the curse of the witch entered you. Her blood is poisoned; it has an effect on the person who tries killing her only by breathing the vapors around it in. You have been poisoned, Haruka. Saturn said you would die. We all thought you would die. But Michiru took care of you and…believe me I have no idea how, managed to keep you alive, until she got it all out of you".
"Because only a witch can take the poison of another witch, out of somebody. And as a ruler of the sea, moreover. Only she knows what lies deep down her water" Saturn's voice came out of a dark corner of a room.
"Who else is here?" Uranus looked around confused.
"Just the three of us. Mars, Jupiter and Pluto are outside. Serena will arrive later" Mercury explained.
"And Michiru?"
"Michiru has taken her duties over again. She is Neptune now. She travels back and forward between Uranus and Neptune, taking care of her planet by day light and making you well at night. Right now she is on Neptune. You won't believe your eyes when you see how much the planet changed. She is under constant supervision of all of us, because of past events and she will have us soon for a meeting there. After you get well of course".
"Tell me again how I got better?"
"By Michiru's constant care and love" Saturn said a little sarcastic. "You are one lucky bastard, Uranus" the woman smiled.
"Your care and love for me is overwhelming, Hotaru" the woman joked.
"She is fine, I don't know why you all worry so much. She will be up in no time" Saturn smiled.
Serena entered the room and sat on Uranus' bed.
"Princess, always a pleasure to see you" Uranus grinned.
"You scared me to death, Haruka. Three months you laid here unconscious. We were afraid you would starve".
"I wonder how I didn't".
"Michiru has kept you alive somehow. It's beyond my power of knowledge how. But she will explain it to you".
"Well, if all this meant having you in my bed I guess it was worth it" she grinned at Serena.
"Haruka!" the woman blushed to the top of her ears.
The blonde laughed, but also choked on her laugh.
"You still have to rest" Serena stood up.
"I have rested for three months, I am sick of it!" she protested as the women walked out.
When Michiru entered, late at night, Uranus was reading a book.
"You improve fantastic" the woman said, sitting on the bed.
"Yes, I even managed washing myself a little. Well, with help" she said putting the book down.
Her hand went on Michiru's cheek lowering to her neck.
"You look tired. Have I caused you so many problems?"
"A little".
"Have you slept recently?"
"A little" Michiru smiled. "I am glad you feel better".
"Why does it sound like you are saying good bye?"
"You will heal perfectly now. All you need is food and rest. I won't be able to return for a while, there is a lot to do on my planet".
"But you are here tonight and you will rest a little" she pulled Michiru up in the bed, placing the woman's head on her shoulder. "Just for a few moments".
"A few moments" Michiru whispered and fell instantly asleep in the woman's arms. Haruka kissed the top of her head, playing with her hand in the soft, turquoise hair.
It wasn't even a surprise for Uranus to wake up alone. And as she expected, Michiru didn't return for the while the woman was fully recovering. Which meant two weeks. After that while, Uranus was on her feet, training to regain her muscle power. But the thought that Nixie hadn't been totally destroyed, never left her mind. She decided to visit the planet Neptune before the official meeting.
"Oh, she is not here" the maid explained to Uranus. She looked better, in fact all people seemed to finally have eaten something. "But I can prepare you a room, it is a big honor to have you here".
"But where is she?"
"The princess is out in town. She had some business there".
"Then I will take a visit to the town. I want to see how things evolved".
"Very well, let me send you the royal advisor to accompany you".
The royal advisor was young man, as tall as Haruka, with black hair and smart eyes. A little bit too good looking for the blonde's tastes.
"I don't recall you" she said to him as they got of their horses to walk through the town.
"That is because Nixie threw me into a dungeon the minute she became princess. I have been Michiru's closest friend and advisor since she became ruler and it wasn't very pleasing for Nixie to have me here".
"I see. And how is everything evolving?"
"Well, the sea has been affected as well, but, fortunately, Nixie's power hadn't yet gotten to the town on the other side of the planet. They had time to protect themselves and some had even declared independency. I am telling you: if her reign would have lasted much longer, this planet would have broken in two. And die, we cannot live with our sea in pain".
"I don't really understand how the sea can be…in pain?" Uranus arched.
"It means creatures of the sea had started dying, losing their power. Now, with this towns still working fine, Michiru has had resources to regrow our part of the planet. Shall we?" he said as he started walking.
Haruka looked around at the cleaned houses and the roads also seemed to be in a better shape. The smell was gone and some children played on the streets. They got to a construction site where Michiru was looking over some plans. Her blue hair was stuck into a light bum and her, maybe much too elegant clothes for the place, seemed a little dusty.
"Milady, captain Uranus is here to visit you" Dylan said approaching her.
The woman looked up through her blue eyes, surprised, but pleased.
"Well, this is a big surprise. You have recovered pretty fast".
"Yes, due to your care" the blonde smiled down at the woman.
"I didn't expect anybody to come so soon".
"I asked Serena to let me take over and follow your steps".
"Still suspicious, captain?"
"Rather…interested" she grinned.
Uranus looked back at Dylan, trying to make the man understand that he was unwanted. He looked around and left.
"And there are many questions you still need to answer me".
"I know, but this is not quite the right time, I am in the middle of my work. You can wait in the castle for me, Dylan will take you back".
"And how come you are here, dirtying you clothes, while pretty boy sits in the castle comfortable?"
"He was going over registers before you interrupted him" Michiru smirked.
"What are you working on, anyway?"
"A new pipe system. The other one was pretty old and was destroyed afterwards. Will be ready in a few days".
"Very well, then I will go back to the castle and look over those registers with Dylan. Let's see how all evolved on paper".
"Go on and spy on me" Michiru winked.
"I am watching you. And of that you can be sure" Uranus said with a big slick smile on her face. She then called Dylan and left with him under Michiru's amused look.
She returned later and asked for her dinner to be served in her room and invite Uranus as well. The blonde had entered, but Michiru was still in the bathroom, cleaning herself so Uranus took the time to look around. Her eyes fell on a half done painting and a violin in a corner of a room. Michiru soon came out, changed in another elegant dress.
"Well, I hoped you would greet me in a transparent robe" Uranus joked.
Michiru smiled somehow not very amused. She poured wine into glasses and handed one to the captain.
"You came here to talk about…her. Didn't you?"
"Yes" Uranus sat on a chair in front of the food. "I collapsed so fast, I didn't have time to understand things. I want to know where she is".
"If I knew, I would go after her. You weakened her truly, so for now I guess she is hiding. But her powers will get strong again and I am sure she will try something. She has always had a big desire for power".
"You always knew Nixie was a witch?"
"I suspected it…as it ran through our veins".
"And you never did anything to stop her?"
"I always hoped I wouldn't have to, that she would not take over that side of her as I didn't".
"You never used black magic?"
"I only used my powers. I have no desire over black magic. Do I need to cut my hand again to prove it to you?"
"That night, your hand was cut, before you stung it in my sword. Why?"
"I hit a mirror, because whenever I looked in it I would see Nixie. Seeing my blood recalled me of whom I truly was. The marks are still here" she showed her hand.
"And the blood? Why is Nixie's blood black?"
"You start losing your human form as witch. Of course this happens over centuries and there are ways to delay it, but the blood instantly turns black after one use of black magic. You knew something about the blood…you cut her hand before trying to kill her".
"I know witches are supposed to have black blood, but I didn't know why. And…well, I recalled Nixie cutting herself in a sword some time ago and hiding her wound from me. She was like possessed and yelled at me then. I thought then that it was just another one of her hysterical crises, but well…"
"You and Nixie seemed to have been pretty close".
"At some point she asked me to train her. She spent some time back on my planet. And…"
"That's when the two of you became lovers" Michiru said taking a sip from her wine to hide her face.
Uranus placed her palm on Michiru's hand, but the woman pulled it away.
"It was fun. That's all" the blonde said. "I never loved her".
"Because you killed her, you can feel her presence. If Nixie will try something on the planets in our system, I think you will sense it".
"But…where can she be?"
"Anywhere" she stood up to get the bottle.
Haruka also stood up following the woman.
"The fact is that I don't feel her, I feel you. My room is filled with your presence and perfume, my whole being senses you".
"Because I healed you, that is why".
"And I still wonder how. Mercury couldn't explain it".
Michiru looked long at Haruka.
"It's something I know, I cannot explain it with words. You're healed so what's the big deal?"
"You are hiding something from me".
"Everybody is hiding something from others. Wine?"
"No. I desire something else" she approached Michiru and attempted to kiss her.
The woman took a step back and shook her head.
"You're turning me down?" Haruka frowned.
"Am I your possession now?
"By rules? Yes. I have released you from that dungeon, I never released you from under my command. Don't you think I know how everything works in this world?"
"So? Well, if you think that way, then take me" Michiru placed the bottle away. "Do as you please with my body" she added cold.
"No…" Haruka sighted. "I am not inhuman, for crying out loud. I don't want your body, I want you. I though you…felt the same. In fact am I sure you feel the same" she said approaching the woman again, feeling her hold her breathe. "But something is holding you back and you can't tell me what it is. So do as you please" Haruka said walking to the door.
"I don't want you to confuse me with Nixie" Michiru said.
The blonde captain looked back at her.
"That's the biggest nonsense I have ever heard. Her grace, her beauty, her soul are nothing compared to yours. So this is the way you think about me" Haruka puffed. She left the room almost slamming the door after her.
"And…the fact that I have fallen madly in love with you and I certainly had not planned it" Michiru whispered to the empty room.
So…not much action in the chapter, just some explanations regarding Nixie. By the way a Happy New Year for everybody.