They were landing rougher than they expected, making the girls' patience slightly shorter than it should have been. Looking around at the dark, cold, semi-barren landscape Chibiusa was confused. While Charon had seen its fair share of revolutions, and death was part of that, it seemed like insufficient time had passed to regrow the planet's former beauty.
"I can see why Setsuna would rather live at the door of Space-Time," Gracie spoke up, but her voice sounded sorrowful and distant.
"Technically, Setsuna didn't CHOOSE to live there. I understand duty, but still..." Crystal recalled as she checked for surrounding danger with her handheld supercomputer.
"Space-Time...that's still backward from how I would put it. I know this will sound not nice. Yet, I don't think anyone will disagree with me. This place is a dump." Christen said, without care how the others took it.
"Anything yet, Crystal?" Ariel asked, not wanting to deal with Christen longer than she had to.
"Nothing, but the land here might hold more secrets than my computer can detect, so let's tread lightly," Crystal suggested smartly.
Making their way to the palace seemed harder too, but it was due to a sore spot here and there from the rough landing earlier. Thankfully, Trisha was waking up with her grandparents by her side. A slim woman with black hair, maroon eyes, a turtleneck black dress with lace sleeves, and a tall, powerfully-built man with the same hair and eyes in black and red attire. An imposing pair they were! The woman used non-verbal communication, so the man spoke for her.
"Hello, granddaughter. It's a pleasure to see you finally. My name is King Chronos Spinel, and this is my wife, Queen Midnight Spinel. I'm sorry your grandmother can't speak." King Spinel, named after the God of Time, spoke softly as Trisha yawned.
"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you two as well. What? Why? Is she deaf?" Trisha asked, wondering if her grandmother was deaf. Why had no one mentioned it? It is not that important. However, if Queen Serenity said it, it would be nice for Chibiusa to inform Trisha or Setsuna!
"No. Well...now she chooses to be mute. Show her, my love." King Spinel gave his wife a devastated look.
So, Queen Spinel pulled her turtleneck down. It looked like the layers of skin had been ripped away and not given time to heal. It left only dry, brown scars covering it!
"What happened?!" Trisha questioned.
"Due to our proximity to Saturn and shortly after our daughter's birth, King Ragnarok and Queen Lilith attacked here first. Midnight tried to protect us. I tried to help, but..." King Spinel shook his head heavily.
"Thank Queen Serenity, she's still alive!" Trisha hugged her grandmother.
"Yes. We still have much to be thankful for." King Spinel hugged both his girls.
Physically, Queen Spinel could do whatever is needed, but try going about your day being unable to talk because it hurts too much. Queen Spinel had a voice recording to their ingenious credit, so Trisha could hear what she used to sound like. As she listened to the quiet and smooth tone, Trisha swore Queen Spinel had the sweetest voice she had ever heard. It was like this woman loved life and lived in the sunlight. She has never been wronged or known a harsh word or blow! How could Ragnarok and Lilth be so black-hearted to take away something like that?
"I know this was long before my time. But, all the same, if I ever run across those two, I will make sure they know the severity of what they did." Trisha balled her hands into fists.
"Despite what they did, I know Midnight disapproves of violence. That is the reason why no one ever went after them." King Spinel explained as he placed a hand on Trisha's shoulder.
"Trisha?!" The other girl's faint voices sounded.
"Girls..." Trisha turned her head in the direction the voices were coming from.
"Destiny is calling. Go on..." King Spinel smiled. He nudged Trisha slightly.
As Trisha reached the doors, she swore she heard Queen Spinel rasp, "Trisha..." Trisha knew Queen Spinel loved her name, and as she glanced back, she saw King Spinel grinning broadly. Queen Spinel, with a small, proud, and loving smile. She had spoken! With happy tears, Trisha returned to hug her grandparents again, then swiftly left to locate her friends.
Her senses had always been sharp as she had to be when guarding the Door of Space-Time, and she had always been a source of wisdom and courage. Thinking deeply, Trisha realized her traits helped inspire others to try and hold out hope for their dreams, even those that seemed impossible like she is sure she just did for Queen Spinel speaking. Suddenly, Chibiusa, Gracie, Crystal, and Alexis glomped her!
"Every time I reappear, you need to hug me." Trisha laughed.
"Losing you is like losing our common sense." Chibiusa giggled.
"Trisha IS our voice of reason." As mature as Ariel was, she never denied Trisha's insights.
"This is great: You know, the eight of us standing around, laughing a few. However, where's our ninth friend, Emily? Oh, that's right, SHE'S PROBABLY GETTING TORN APART ATOM BY ATOM BY THE KING, WHO CAN do EVERYTHING AND is THE DAUGHTER OF HATE. DID YOU GIRLS FORGET THAT?!" Finally, Christen had had enough of this adventure.
"Did you forget you're screaming directly into my eardrum?!" Crystal wanted to slap Christen's mouth with Mercury's water. However, her hands were covering her sensitive ears.
"Well, we're together now. Let's go check on Emily!" Chibiusa declared, and the girls used Sailor Teleport one last time...
Queen Midnight: Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams from the Addams Family)
King Spinel: David Humphrey (Shadow The Hedgehog from SA2B)