Kunzite
I realized at once I entered it that ‘audience chamber’ was an extraordinarily misleading description – it was far too huge for a room, and its wealth far too lavish. Walls, floor and ceiling glimmered in the same pearl white color that this entire planet seemed to consist of, masked here and there by paintings and draperies. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe it to be anything even comparable to the actual throne hall, but it was still impressive.

In the far end of the hall, framed by enormous windows, was a slight dais upon which a humble throne decorated in diamonds and seashells rested. Around it, down on the floor, stood a group of what I assumed to be councilors of the queen. In most other kingdoms, there was at least sort of a standard garb for them, but evidently that was not the case here – I’d thought Luna’s short, yellow dress odd for an ambassador, but obviously I’d been wrong. Is that woman dressed in a bathing suit? I suddenly understood why nobody complained half as much as they ought to over those ludicrous sailorfuku.

Back on Earth, I might have considered Nephrite’s extravagant scarlet tunic a bit on the peacock side, but in this company he appeared almost mainstream. I myself was doubtlessly plain in my unadorned tunic and the light grey trousers of the uniform they’d designed for us – grey, to remind that we were neither good nor bad, light because they were too frightened to fully embrace the choice.

Regardless of what I thought of his – or anyone else’s – clothing, I was rather happy that Nephrite had made it on time for once. It seemed the two of us were the only non-Lunarians here. I couldn’t quite decide whether I should consider it well or not – perhaps they underestimated us and hoped that we wouldn’t be able to handle ourselves without aid from the Earthen diplomats, or maybe they thought that we represented ourselves rather than the Golden Kingdom.

All of this, though, was completely irrelevant to me at the time – because at that moment, nothing at all existed but the glorious creature seated on the throne. I was scarcely aware of anything besides the Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, the angel of whitest, purest beauty that had miraculously taken shape in front of my unworthy self. Is this what they feel like, when they look at us?

No, it couldn’t be. Because, unlike us, she was perfect. She was everything. I don’t think even Zoisite existed for me as I stared at her.

Then, with slow and graceful movements, the goddess before me put the Heart of Light down.

I still stared at her, but in shock rather than astonishment. It’s not possible! My mental exclamation was so startled, so disbelieving, that I momentarily feared that I’d spoken the words aloud. Through the simple act of putting away a crystal, the queen had transformed from whatever wonder she’d been to an aging, underdressed and achingly mortal woman with mild, tired features. Her hair was no longer an angel’s silver halo, but merely grey tresses in a fashion that would have looked ridiculous even on someone younger and prettier than she.

I had expected a great lot of things of the legendary Silver Queen, but not weakness. It was not so strange, I thought, that the Lunarians were soft and naive, when ruled by such a woman. Her aura was a single silver-blue streak of energy, and the way it shrugged away from the ginzuishou indicated… She was afraid of it. It was probably natural for a mere human’s aura to behave like that around such infinite magical power as that of the silver crystal, but her energy was so intimately bound to it that that explanation didn’t suffice. No. She feared it. Between that and her apparent humanity, I found myself surprised that she could use the gem at all. Suddenly Nephrite’s suspicions about the Wall-project seemed a whole lot more credible.

I only hoped that my usual emotionless mask managed to hide my thoughts behind a polite outer appearance as I listened to her little speech of welcome, bowing and nodding when I was supposed to. Well, all right, mostly I just mimicked Nephrite’s movements. He had a much better grip on etiquette than I had ever bothered to achieve.

She called me “Kunzite-kun.” I must admit I was quite unable to decide how to react to – or even feel about – that. Nephrite seemed to be having much the same problem – laugh or be annoyed.

Judging by the surprised look on more than one councilor’s face, the queen cut off the meeting sooner than had originally been planned. I was not complaining. I was no great friend or admirer of Relisiana, but at least the queen of the Golden Kingdom would not have hesitated to use whatever means she could. She might very well have feared it, certainly, but she would not have allowed that fear to dictate her actions. I supposed that that made it an open question whether it was fortunate that she couldn’t have wielded the Player’s Heart even if she’d tried.

“Do you have any special plans?” I asked Nephrite when the heavy door had closed behind us.

“My being me makes it kind of a given that I’ll attend the banquet in our honor later. Before that, one of the councilors offered me a little chat that I must admit sounded very interesting. If I go and meet him, how about you give our requested report to the official Earthen ambassador? He’s more afraid of you anyway.”

“That could be because he hasn’t seen me passed out from alcohol poisoning, but it sounds fair. Would you suppose he’s in his quarters now?”

“Probably. Well, I’ll catch you later, then.”

Nephrite turned out to be right in his assumption – ambassador Jenshin was indeed in his office, which was located conveniently close to his living quarters. The dark, elegant man practically bolted out of his chair when I entered.

“Kunzite-san!” he exclaimed. “What an honor. I can’t say how pleased I am that you could make it. Please, have a seat.”

I nodded neutrally and sat down in a high-backed chair, inwardly rolling my eyes. I’d never really gotten along with diplomats, and his speech reminded me of why.

“So,” he said, a tad nervously. “If you would be so kind as to inform me of what transpired during your and Nephrite-san’s audience with Her Majesty Queen Serenity?”

“Nothing much,” I admitted. “Her Majesty saw fit to welcome us to her kingdom, that was all.”

I put up with his continued questions about details – such as our respective tones of voice and what honorific we had used – for about thirty seconds before I told him to rather ask one of the Lunarian servants or councilors. For an instant, he looked almost about to protest my rude decision, but he only needed a cold glare to change his mind and nod humbly as I left.

It was stupid to return to my chambers. It was really dumb, but I couldn’t see that I had much else to do, and foolish as I was, I didn’t count on my discipline being this bad. I should have learned by now that my self-control had a habit of evaporating when he was concerned, but – well, what can I say?

It hit me like a physical blow, the absence of bright, bubbly light. Even when we did not occupy the same room, traces of Zoisite’s aura were always lingering around the Golden Castle, a subconscious, comforting reassurance that he’d be with me shortly. Since Zoisite had never been to the Moon, naturally there was no such thing here.

This was pathetic – one single person gone, and I was rendered a wreck, gripping the doorpost with white, shaking knuckles. Pathetic indeed. With tightly mastered movements I released the doorframe and took the few steps needed to bring me to the desk. There, I threw the vase on it to the floor and swore viciously. Apparently the infuriating piece of furniture had been subjected to a number of protective spells – it lay on the floor, certainly, but its perfect crystalline structure was without a scratch. The flowers, even the water, still remained in place.

I stared at it in disbelief for a moment, then couldn’t help laughing – in spite of everything, or perhaps because of it. I needed an outlet, and I couldn’t cry. Nor could I deny that my laughter soon had a hysterical ring to it.

It was something of a struggle to quiet it when I heard a knock – the soft, chiming sound of someone touching the outermost wards around my rooms. It was plain politeness, as these so called wards were too weak to refuse even a very low-grade magician entrance, but here in the Moon Kingdom I doubted that that was any sort of a problem, shrouded as its people was in layer upon layer of humility and timidity. Grimacing, I wondered how rude it would be to construct some additional shields of my own.

Whoever had knocked had a remarkable aura – its energy was of gigantic proportions, but did not seem to originate from the actual person. The natural assumption was that she was a Sailorsenshi, but the Inners were still children and as such hadn’t been accustomed to handle this amount of power, and the Outers rarely left their native planets.

Waving my hand in dismissal, I dissolved the ward in invitation. If she’d had any other aura, I would probably just have ignored her, pretending not to be here. This, though, might just prove interesting, and after all, I sorely needed something to distract myself with. Anything.

It took only moments to recognize the slight female who stopped politely in the doorway. Female was really the only word I could use – her delicately chiseled face and the thin, lithe body said that she was too young to be referred to as woman, yet the endlessly inscrutable ocean in her blue eyes, mirrors of the sea, and the quietly self-assured grace in her stance spoke of someone far past the age of girl.

“Kaioh Michiru-san,” I greeted her. “Sailorneptune.”

“Tennou Kunzite-san.” She smiled, her gaze passing the flower vase without comment as she nodded at a couch. “May I sit down?”

“Go ahead.” Perhaps not the most polite reply I could have given, but then, I was in no mood to be diplomatical. Not that I ever was.

She sat down silently, still that slightly ironical smile on her face as she arranged the skirt around her legs. Obviously the Neptunian fashion had not taken to the floor-caressing gowns of the Moon or the Earth, for the pale blue silk reached no further than to her knees. She was remarkably pretty, even for a Senshi, with that peculiar sea-colored hair in waves around her face and those long, slender legs.

“May I ask what brings you here, Kaioh-san?” I asked, slipping down in a chair.

“Curiosity,” she replied with another lazy smile. “My dear overprotective council members are extremely anxious to protest my going to any of the other Outer planets. Whereas it’s very sweet of them to worry over me, I do want to see more of the galaxy when I have the possibility. We settled for the reinforcement ceremony here as a compromise. I’ve seen the Moon Kingdom before, though. If I shall be honest, the reason I agreed to come was my curiosity over you.” She fastened a lock of hair behind her ear. “It’s on our outer worlds that we fight the war without pause. The governments on the Inner planets usually have a much softer view of the world. And yet it was on Earth that they chose to revive you. I have been eager to meet the fabled Tennou for a long time.”

“How flattering,” I replied dryly.

“Not necessarily,” she said, an honesty that surprised me. “You’re not what I expected – when I looked in the Aqua Mirror, I could only see the power around you, never the persons. Then I catch Nephrite-san making new acquaintances with the servant girls in the corridor, and here you are, acting all human.”

“Disappointed?” I asked.

She laughed, saying, “I don’t particularly enjoy crawling around on my knees before the gods – no, I’m hardly dissatisfied.”

We talked with surprising ease and pleasantry for rather a while. I didn’t know very many people – I loved Zoisite, Nephrite was my only friend, and Jadeite was sort of my responsibility, that was it – but I realized that I…liked her. Enjoyed her company, at any rate.

It had darkened almost completely outside when at length she rose. “I’m afraid I have to go now, I promised to attend a private ceremony. But if you ever tire of this created reality, you are welcome to Neptune, Kunzite-san. Gods know we could use you.” And as quickly as she’d come, she was gone.

Looking out through the window, I could see the lights from the banquet. I shook my head and went to bed – I’d already missed the speeches, so it was too late to go for the sake of politeness, and I just felt too incredibly lonely to do it because I wanted to.

* * * * * * * *

Nephrite
It was a splendidly lovely day, sun shining, birds singing, flowers blossoming – the sort of day that could only occur in the Moon Kingdom. We had gathered in one of the palace’s halls, slightly bigger than the one Kunzite and I had visited during our brief audience. It looked as if half the inhabitants of the castle had gathered around the podium that the Silver Queen occupied. She was perfectly lovely, was the wielder of the Heart of Light, standing white and regal with the Crescent Wand and its crystal in one hand. Even though I knew that it was an illusion.

I blinked.

The hall lay wasted before me, all crumbled stone and buzzing black energy that streamed from the gateway in the air. The queen had dropped the ginzuishou and stood panting on her knees. It was a crystal clear catastrophe.

Forcing my eyes open again, I shook my head a discreetly as I could. My headache pounded on the inside of my skull like a blacksmith hammering his swords. Premotion was so thick in the air that I could positively taste it. I felt ill, as though the demonic energy in my foresights was already bleeding into me. Don’t be silly, I told myself dismissively, yet supported myself against the wall behind me, grateful that most attention was directed at Serenity. Hopefully nobody would notice my apparent weakness. I wasn’t that lucky.

“Luna-san,” said a girl-child’s voice beside me. “Who is that? Is there something wrong with him?”

“That is Nephrite-tennou from the Golden Kingdom,” Luna said. First then did I realize that it was I who was the subject of their conversation and turned to face the cat-woman and the Moon princess she guarded.

She reminded me of nothing so much as a filly – all huge, innocent eyes the color of the horizon and long, long hair in that quite ludicrous style. The moonbeam dress looked almost as ridiculous on such a young child as it did on her mother. How old was she? A little younger than Zoisite, if I remembered correctly – ten, perhaps eleven.

Luna, standing possessively and protectively over the girl, stared at me with her usual chilly dislike. I had the distinct feeling that she hadn’t really appreciated my jumping out of the window back on Earth. Oh well. Even though it wasn’t especially bright to provoke the Silver Queen’s most trusted advisor, I couldn’t regret it – the scandalized look on her face had been irresistible.

“Yes, I’m Nephrite,” I said to the princess, bending down so as to get on eye-level with her. “Pleased to meet you, Serenity-hime.” She was quite gorgeous. On the other hand, what else was to be expected? She was an heiress of Selene, and they all looked the same. Still, considering my persistent headache, it surprised me that I didn’t have to force the smile to my lips.

“Glad to meet you too,” she beamed. Sweet or not, her aura was surprisingly immature. She could hardly have any experience at all with magic, and her overall impression was rather ignorant. I kept myself from frowning, but reinforcing the Night Walls was risky, especially at the queen’s age – she ought to have begun training her daughter to use the crystal by now. On the other hand, all the Lunarians seemed to be under the foolish impression that this project was completely safe. If they’d even suspected anything else, the council would never have allowed their queen to carry it out. Well, not that they could explicitly forbid her to do anything, but she would never go against their will, so the result was the same. I supposed that that explained why the monarchs of the Moon Kingdom had retained the right to pick the council members themselves.

“I believe it’s starting now,” Luna said calmly, placing both hands on her protege’s shoulders. I nodded to the princess, then straightened up again to watch the queen of the higher heavens lift the very essence of light above her head. My migraine dissipated as she spoke a short incantation that made the crystal blaze brighter than any star. My description of her as divine when she was only holding the gem left me without an expression for what she was now. I wanted nothing more than to fall on my knees and worship her.

Then the latent premotion struck, so strongly that I actually saw reality as déja vu for several minutes.

A pained, desperate frown creaked its way between Serenity’s eyebrows, and a moment later she screamed. It was a thin, brittle sound, almost too high for human ears to catch it. I made a mad rush towards her, releasing all my seals and wards until I felt the magic surge through me. Filled as my mind was with the premotion, the sheer force of the power was enough to make me dizzy.

At first I thought I was hopelessly too late, but as the premotion abided I realized that in reality I had begun to run before the scream left her lips. In reality, I reached her just as the black gateway appeared in the air – had time to threw myself at her and knock us both out of danger’s way.

The impact as I crashed into her knocked the ginzuishou out of the queen’s hand – lying on the floor, the crystal continued to shine for just an instant before it flickered and died.

The silver crystal didn’t activate without a wielder, and since the use of the gem demanded it, all the usual wards had been taken down – there was nothing to stop the black energy from pouring out of the gateway except the preliminary shields I’d thrown up when running. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that they would last for long. Oh, shit!

True, I could hear a few “Akryo Taisan!” but for the most part, the noise consisted of panicked screams and weeping. Fucking Lunarian pansies.

Then finally, finally, a magical explosion imploded the hole. Thank the gods that Kunzite was more efficient than the others were.

Even so, it was a scene of chaos that met my eyes when I’d pushed myself off of the queen, extending a hand to drag her with me up. The air was filled with half-woven shields and energy-beams, the floor crowded with fallen people. Several of the attendants had run for the door and were still trying to get out through it. It was just sheer dumb luck that all the negative energy had disappeared with the hole.

Luna had wrapped herself protectively around the crying Usagi Serenity and was even now careful not to let go of the girl, whereas Artemis released his shielding embrace and stood up. Kunzite, directly practical as usual, held the ginzuishou in a steady grip. Well, that explained why it had taken him so long to shut down the gateway.

A typhoon of sounds broke out, as just short of three hundred people simultaneously demanded to have their voices heard. At first it seemed like Serenity might calm them down, as she was standing on her own again, Kunzite coming forward to hand her the crystal back. Then Luna finally let the princess loose, and the girl run head over heels to her mother. The chaos started again as the queen chose to ignore the gathered people and the offered crystal in favor of embracing and comforting her daughter. An understandable decision, but not a very bright one. Kunzite sighed and kept the Crescent Wand.

At length it was also he who broke the hysterical mood by demanding, “Cut the crap and just tell us where the Walls broke.”

* * * * * * * *

Ami
Even though I preferred my own planet’s calm blue seas, I could freely admit that Venus was very lovely. I hadn’t ever been to a garden like this one before – on Mercury, there was practically no land at all, so we lived on constructions that floated on the water, which made it rather hard to grow things. I’d heard that it was much the same on Neptune, but all the other planets had so much land that it was just incredible.

My mother and father had been unable to come with me, but although I missed them quite a bit, I was happy enough to be here with my nurse. I had, after all, never seen such wonderful trees before. The adults that watched over us laughed as I stared in fascination, but it hardly mattered. I didn’t much care about what people thought of me, especially not when I wanted to analyze something. I only wished I’d had the courage to actually climb the trees instead of just looking at them.

“Ne! Ami-chan!” Minako called.

I tilted my head backwards and waved at her. It was apparent that the princess of Venus was well used to the garden, as she climbed each and every tree with practiced ease. Now, though, she made her way down again, landing elegantly on her feet beside me. I couldn’t help staring at the scratches in her pants, but she didn’t seem to notice. All in all, Minako-chan was a lot less orderly than I, who couldn’t stand leaving a mess anywhere and wouldn’t dream of ruining my clothes. But then, I’d never been a lively child, which Minako undoubtedly was. Bright and cheery and very much alive.

“Come on, Ami-chan,” she asked, taking hold of my hand. “Let me show you the shrine.”

“Oh…okay.”

I slowly followed her through the bushes, trying not to get scratched by the thorns that protruded from their branches. Minako walked carelessly, her long blonde hair already tousled, and I stumbled when her grip on my hand forced me forward faster than I’d expected. Crying out in surprise, I fell down on my knees.

“I’m sorry, Ami-chan, I should’ve taken it slower. Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you” I said, dragging myself up again. The blue fabric of my favorite dress was ruined, but at least I’d managed to avoid the thorns. I could certainly see the sense in Minako using a boy’s clothes.

Just a few meters after that, we reached the shrine, and all my troubles were forgotten. It wasn’t really a building, but rather a few stone walls that matched perfectly with the surrounding greenery. Beneath two old cherry trees was the altar, a huge slab of what I assumed to be marble, its surface inscribed with signs from a language I recognized as Nihong, although I couldn’t read more than a few simple words such as kami and mamotte.

“Isn’t it wonderf – ” Minako broke off in mid-sentence as a huge explosion erupted in the garden we had previously occupied. A thick veil of black smoke blew towards us, concealing most of the view, but the screams were very clearly audible, the creeping sensation of something evil unmistakable.

“Mother!” Minako screamed, staring at the site of the explosion in wide-eyed shock.

That was when a second explosion shook the ground, this one in the opposite direction. I fell hard on my side.

It was quiet for so long that at first I thought Minako had run back towards her mother and the others in the garden. I closed my eyes, trembling in fear. Then I felt someone shake my shoulder. Minako kneeled over me, her face terribly pale but composed. “Ami-chan, come on,” she implored me urgently. “Here, I’ll help you to your feet. Hurry up.”

I did as I was told, staring at the fallen trees and walls, trying not to hear the screams and demonic laughter. What had happened?

“There’s no time,” Minako said, giving a last longing glance in the direction of her home. “It’s too much for me. There’s nothing I can do to save them. And I’m supposed to become leader of the Senshi. I’m responsible for you. It’s what I have to do. Come.”

She led me to the other side of the altar, placing her hand against it and closing her eyes, as if searching for something. “There!” she said at length, her palm over a certain symbol. “You have your henshin wand with you, right?”

I nodded, taking the pen from my pocket. I never went anywhere without it.

“Good. No, don’t transform, that could only give us unwanted attention. We just need them to active this. It’s sort of a Warp gate, you see. It’ll take us to the other side of the planet. I don’t know if it’s any safer there, but I think it’s our only chance.”

“Right.”

She drew a deep breath, then placed both our wands against the symbol, and the world around us erupted in golden light.

* * * * * * * *

Kunzite
I’d half expected my words to send them into a frenzy – the way they all froze over, as though the simple, rude sentence had stopped time, was curious. Yet, delusional Lunarians or not, they must have been aware of the possibility that this could fail. An experiment executed with magical tools too powerful for any sort of human comprehension, and an experiment that had never previously been tried, inevitably called for caution. In fact, it rather surprised me that the sorely overprotective council had agreed to this course of action in the first place. Perhaps they had really thought that it was safe. No, they couldn’t have been that stupid.

Fortunately, the Goddess of the Moon was not as shattered as she had seemed. Though still holding the girl tightly, she raised her head and said, “Around Venus. The Night Walls have been breached around Venus.” Thankfully, her broken voice was too quiet to be heard by the rest as she whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.” She buried her face once more in her daughter’s golden hair.

Luna and Artemis both approached her, but whereas the dark-haired female put a comforting arm around the queen’s shoulders, it seemed her husband had mostly wanted the podium, from which he began dealing out curt orders on which battalions were to be sent immediately.

Nephrite caught my eyes, and I think we had the same thing in mind. We hardly needed an army to do what we had been created for. And we really didn’t have much time to waste.

I beckoned my comrade over even as the warp gate formed before me. It was rather a long jump, but the planetary energies were easy to recognize, and I ought to have more than enough power even despite my brief skirmish with the invading darkness.

Preparing to enter, I recalled that I still had the ginzuishou. “We’re off,” I told Artemis, turning partly around to offer him the Crescent Wand shaft first.

To my mostly undisguised surprise, instead of accepting it, he grabbed ahold of my hand. “No,” he said very firmly. “I’m coming with you.”

He could do nothing but get in the way, and apparently he was needed here, but he refused to let go of my hand. There was such desperation in his eyes. Well, I told myself. It doesn’t really matter one way or the other. If he’s suicidal, that’s his problem.

“All right,” I said.

He nodded, yet still he didn’t let go of me even as he handed the Wand to Luna, as though he feared to be left behind after all.

“Come on,” Nephrite urged. “Hurry up!”

We entered the Warp in a rush, soon emerging into a world so tranquil that it made every hair on my body stand on end. The scenery was not unlike those we had encountered as we rode to the Tsukikagemati, an orange field of thigh-high flowers that glimmered in the warm sunlight and swayed lazily in the breeze. The absolute silence, however, was clear evidence of animals run away to hide.

In the distance, I could just barely make out the lines of the city wall surrounding Verena, golden capital of the Love Goddess’ planet.

“Well,” Nephrite said behind me. “There’s obviously something here, but it doesn’t seem as though it’s going to surface. We ought to make for the town. I think I see some sort of explosion over there.”

I squinted my eyes even as I agreed with him. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

I took a step forward into the flowers to get a better orientation point before I teleported. Of course, that was when the oni struck. I dimly sensed their presence just before Nephrite yelled, threw myself around as I prepared the magic.

The darkcreature facing me was not great enough to be a true demon, yet far superior to a simple youma. We regarded each other apprehensively for a moment. And then I laughed – laughed because it was so easy, so right. I was Kunzaito no Tennousama, and this thing opposing me was dust.

For the first time, I was truly aware of how it felt to be immortal. Despite that the reflexes it had imprinted in me came in handy, the training was nothing like this.

“You’re teleporting with me,” Nephrite told Artemis. “Kunzite, let’s go.”

I nodded, and we disappeared into Shadow Space. The mass of dark energy made it momentarily hard to orient, but since it wasn’t active trying to stop us, we reached the city without delay. It was a wasted town, its buildings torn down and its streets crowded with darkcreatures.

“From what I can sense, about half of the demonic activity is located in the city, whereas the rest is spread out over the rest of the planet,” Nephrite concluded.

Artemis was pale and almost trembling as he said, “I have to get to the palace! I must!”

Nephrite shrugged. “Might as well begin there. If I take the town, you can try and salvage the rest.”

I nodded, and the two of them hurried off. I tried to figure out which way would get me out. Teleportation was not a brilliant idea, partly because the negative energies could disturb it, partly because I might as well do what good I could for the people here who were still alive. There. Right. That ought to be one of the city-gates.

All the way through the town, the power continued to rise endlessly within me. I felt light enough to fly. I must have been a ghostly sight for the terrified humans I encountered. Certainly, I destroyed the darkcreatures that threatened them, but they must have thought that I was mad – a young man who blazed with power and walked through their ruined city laughing insanely. Actually, I thought it was quite tasteless myself, but I just…I was too far away to stop. Too wrapped up in the magic that called to me.

Ironically, the first creature to truly threaten me was a weak demon that I encountered just outside of the town’s wall. It was hardly more than an oni. Yet it almost killed me, because as I gathered a boll of energy between my palms, I suddenly found myself reeling back against the wall, a sudden tightness pressing over my chest – and I knew, beyond question and beyond doubt, that if I took in any more power than I already had, this human body of mine would die. This was the very limit – any more, anything even close to what my spirit would deem fulfillment, would inevitably destroy my mortal shell.

For the first time, I fully realized the true curse of my double nature. I stared down at my body in despair, unable to decide – should I live in chains or die in freedom? I just…couldn’t decide.

Zoisite. Think about Zoisite.

Forcing my breath to come steady, and somehow convincing my heart to calm its mad beating, I carefully raised one arm and let the energy that was left from the ball loose as a bolt of power. It struck the darkcreature in the chest, but it wasn’t a clean hit. I cursed softly but viciously as the oni danced away. Praying that I would have enough time to finish it before the creature attacked me, I wove another attack, fairly certain that it was strong enough to kill my opponent.

The part of me that was Tennou screamed for me to draw in more energy, to join with the magic and become the wild, untamable power that I had originally been intended to be. The universe was calling me, whispering seductively of all the promises of destiny. I knew, so well, that the moment I embraced it would be my last.

Slowly, painfully, I took aim at the oni and released a spell of great precision but little power, then carefully made my way further from the fence of the town.

* * * * * * * *

Relisiana
“My Queen!”

I calmly turned towards the messenger, keeping my posture tall and proud and dignified despite the fatigue that wanted to claim me. You need to concentrate to give the impression of a heavenly queen when you’ve been wearing the same nightgown for just shy of thirty-two hours. “Yes?” I asked the boy.

“His Majesty King Endymion and counselors sent me to inform you that the front is secured.” His face took on the stoned expression that I’d learned to recognize as that of a trained messenger repeating something word for word. “With the help of Helios-sama, the bounds to Holy Elysion are restored to roughly eighty percent of the planet, hence the Golden Kingdom, though having suffered medium damage, ought now to be reasonably safe.”

“Excellent.” Usually, here on Earth, the reply would have been ‘thank you’, but we didn’t say that kind of thing to our inferiors on Mars. Old habits die hard, I guess. I gestured to one of the pages. “Give him wine, water, whatever he wants.”

I had been worried. All right, that was an understatement – the only reason I hadn’t panicked was because I hadn’t had time to. And even though I wasn’t proud of it, I wasn’t exactly ashamed, either. It was not every day, after all, that a ritual involving the ginzuishou backlashed so badly as to temporarily damage the Night Walls. The attack on Earth had been minor compared to what had befallen Venus, but it was still a major crisis. It appeared, now that it seemed to be over, that our kingdom would not be whole again for a long time to come.

The planet of Earth was one thing, the kingdom of dreams another – their energies had been intimately twinned together for more than a millennia, with the Golden Kingdom as result. It couldn’t exist without either of them. Then, scarcely a hundred years ago, a few isolated places had had their energies untwined. They were no longer parts of the Golden Kingdom, or of the Silver Millennium at all.

Since we were occupied with the war, nobody had investigated these places much, but the little knowledge we had was the opposite of reassuring. The few that had visited and returned spoke of a barbaric realm, bereft of magic and even knowledge of the other planets. Its people had been robbed of Elysion – had had the essence of their very souls taken away. No wonder that they were hardly more than beasts.

And now, I thought bitterly, a fifth of my planet was like that. I was a hard woman, and I did not cry, but I felt sorely tempted to scream and rage and trash the room.

“If that is the case,” I said calmly, “the spaceship with the prince, the two Tennou and the honor guard will go to Venus and remain there as planned.”

“But surely we cannot put Mamoru-sama in danger…!”

Goddamn councilors. Whatever good do they ever do?

“Mamoru would be no safer here than where he is now, protected by hundreds of dedicated warriors and the four ultimate magicians in the galaxy. Our own problems may yet prove worse than we hope, and may I remind you, a spell-line between Earth and Elysion passes straight through this very palace. My son stays where he is.”

“But,” another one of them complained, “we could use the soldiers, not to mention the Tennou. We were the ones putting ourselves at risk creating them – is it not the least one could ask that we be the ones who profit from their efficiency?”

I almost smiled at that – it was nice to be reminded of the one good thing that had come of this. It seemed the Tennou were indeed all we had hoped. Still, I would seriously consider firing these testy old men. But I had learned, so long ago, that it was easier to deal with them at once and explain than to face opposition later on or have them go to my husband.

“The honor guard,” I said, still calm and queenly and in control, “are one hundred man. They would hardly make any difference here, and it is a nice diplomatical sign to send them to Venus. The Tennou, most especially the two of them that are old enough to actually battle, are where they are needed most. We cannot let the Night break through anywhere, lest all of us will soon fall into the darkness. Thanks to Helios-san, our Golden Kingdom is presently in good condition, considering the circumstances. We might, however, contemplate bringing the two younger Tennou home to let them provide energy for some certain spells.”

“Your Majesty, if I may humbly remind you – you are no longer head of the Shitennou Committee. You resigned the same year His Highness the prince was born.”

Yes, I am so going to fire you.

“I am Queen,” I replied with the slightest hint of scorn. “But of course, if you would rather interact with the Tennou yourself, far be it from me to stop you.”

I smiled sweetly. Then, hearing footsteps outside the door, I realized that I wouldn’t have time to bathe today either. Fortunately, neither would I have time to curl up in a corner and cry for worry over my son and my husband and our kingdom.