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"When I woke up, I knew in a second that something had changed. Finding out exactly what had happened took a lot longer, because after all these years of peace, none of us had ever thought that it could come to war. And that is what frightened me the most."
Marianth awoke with a splitting headache.
All she could feel, all she knew, was pain. Every fibre of her being ached, and her body was full of heat, of fire. Dimly, a part of her mind reached out with her other senses, seeking something comforting and familiar amid the haze of shining light that seemed to cloud her being.
"No", a voice said gently, and Marianth thought that she had heard it before, "you must rest now."
A soothing coolness wrapped itself around her mind and Marianth gratefully embraced it, slipping back into sleep without another thought.
"Has her fever broken yet?" Princess Amaterasu's voice was full of concern for her friend. She was still incredibly distressed that Palomene would not let her visit the Senshi in the medical bay, for even though she feared whatever illness had struck the girl down, the Princess wanted reassurance that Marianth would be alright.
"Don't worry, Princess", Palomene said, forcing a smile and turning the Princess around to push her gently from the room, "Marianth will be fine in a few days."
Amaterasu sighed and nodded her head. "I will go back to my lessons then." She walked softly from the room, her light-slippered feet making no sound on the tiled floor of the throne room.
"She has never been so dedicated to her studies before", Queen Amaterasu said, her voice thick with sorrow.
"She's frightened, Your Majesty." Palomene's voice was little more than a whisper.
"We all are."
'Teki consulted with the doctors for a long time before they allowed her in to visit Marianth. In the end, the only reason they decided in her favour was that she had dedicated much of her own studies to that of medicine, and it was possible that her presence and abilities might make a difference to the other Senshi's condition.
And in the end, sitting and talking to Marianth in her coma seemed to make little difference. 'Teki's depression began to affect the other Senshi, who were still disallowed to visit, and Sailor Domus Prime started avoiding Princess Amaterasu in order to prevent her from seeing how hopeless it all seemed.
One morning, about a week after the attack, 'Teki found herself in her room, rummaging through a chest which had been underneath her bed. In this place she had hidden all the remnants of her childhood, putting them away as she grew up and became the warrior that she was required to be. But her stress was fast becoming too much for 'Teki to carry on her own, and so she went searching for happier memories to use as a shield against Marianth's pain.
'Teki found what she wanted almost immediately, and hugged the much-loved stuffed ewok to her chest. Replacing the chest under her bed, 'Teki walked quickly down to the medical bay, where she tucked the ewok under one of Marianth's arms.
"Take care of her, Jonathan", 'Teki ordered softly. "Let her know how much we need her. Bring Marianth back to us."
Marianth drifted in a place between dreams and awakening. She heard voices, sometimes talking about her, sometimes not, always in whispered tones. She could not tell the intent of those whose plans she overheard and she did not know if those she listened to were her friends or not.
Above all else, the searing heat that penetrated every part of her body distracted her. Her planet sense was screaming to her, telling her that something was wrong and that nothing she could do would ever make it right again.
And so she drifted, listening to the screams of her world and its people, wishing that she had been there to change things.
And then, the darkness lightened, and she saw before her the face of a woman, a humanoid with pointed ears and bluish skin, black penetrating eyes and hair the colour of blood. She wore a low cut purple dress that emphasised her rather dramatic chest, and she cast the impression of being one who never smiled, like Palomene, but unlike Palomene, this woman did not seem content.
Marianth was suddenly frightened at the wave of hatred that swept over her, emanating from the woman in her dream, who smiled cruelly. "I have a message for you, little soldier", she said, her tone both mocking and painful. "Tell your Queen that she must surrender the Sapphire Crystal and Coruscant to me, or else I will attack every other planet as I have yours. Tell Amaterasu that she will give in to the Dark Kingdom, or she and everyone in her world will die. Can you remember that message, little soldier?"
Marianth nodded fiercely in her dream, and a fresh wave of pain washed over her. The red-haired woman laughed at her suffering, but suddenly appeared startled when a warmth appeared near to Marianth, bringing comfort and release.
"Marianth, you are needed", a deep voice told her, and she believed it.
She turned her head and saw a bright light before her. Ignoring the woman who seemed to bring her pain, Marianth stepped towards the brightness and stepped into consciousness.
'Teki nearly squealed with delight when Marianth's eyes opened no more than a minute after she had handed over Jonathan the stuffed ewok. "Are you awake?" she asked breathlessly.
Marianth looked around the room in the medical bay for a little while, taking in her surroundings. Although her movements seemed as fluid as before, 'Teki had the distinct impression that Marianth was more wary than before, as if she was frightened of something. Marianth saw her questioning look and smiled. "I'll be fine", she said, and if her voice cracked a little as she spoke, neither girl mentioned it.
"I'm glad", 'Teki said while smiling herself. "We've all been really worried about you. Especially the Princess; she's been absolutely insufferable. Now that you're awake, I will let her know that she will be able to visit you soon." 'Teki was already sending out a thought to the Senshi guarding Princess Amaterasu, passing on the good news and then informing Palomene of what had happened.
Marianth looked down at the ewok she was holding. "Is he yours?" she asked, looking at the bear oddly and remembering the voice in her dreams, and 'Teki nodded. "Does he have a name?"
"He's Jonathan. An old friend from when I was a child. He and I used to play pranks on everyone in the Palace on Domus Prime, much to the disappointment of my mother. She always believed that I was a rotten child and that Jonathan was a bad influence on me." Marianth chuckled and 'Teki smiled in response. 'Teki took a deep breath before speaking again, her tone now serious. "Do you know what happened?"
Marianth's arms tightened convulsively around Jonathan as she shuddered. "I have to speak to the Queen", she said in a small voice, her blue eyes terrified, "I have to tell her."
"The Queen will be here in a moment", Palomene said from the doorway, "You have no need to be afraid anymore, Marianth. We will protect you."
"No one can protect us", Marianth's voice was a horrified whisper, "they will come, and they will kill us all. No one is safe from them."
"From who?" 'Teki's green-blue eyes were wide, and the temperature in the room seemed to her to drop several degrees quite suddenly.
Marianth shook her head as she remembered, two tears falling to the bed. "They say they are from a place called the Dark Kingdom, but I do not know anything more about it than that name. And her face." She closed her eyes, remembering those horrible eyes, with their unnatural black irises.
The Queen glided into the room silently followed by Kako Shinwa, smiling as she saw Marianth awake, though her eyes remained concerned. "We are glad to see you looking improved, Sailor Tatooine", she said in a voice that showed genuine concern, "My daughter will especially be glad to hear that you have recovered."
"Thank you, Your Majesty", the blonde girl tried to give a bow of a sort from her place sitting up in the bed.
"Sailor Domus Prime", the Queen turned to 'Teki, "We have much to discuss with Sailor Tatooine. For now, would you leave us?"
"Please", the word burst from Marianth without conscious thought as she clutched the toy she held to her chest, "I would like it if 'Teki stayed."
For an instant, the Queen looked as if she would like to debate this, but she acquiesced with a nod, sitting in a chair Palomene provided her with. "Well then, Sailor Tatooine, could you tell us what happened?"
Marianth blushed a little. "I don't know all of the details yet, Your Majesty, I will have to return to Tatooine to find out many of the answers you need, but I know that will not be possible for some time now."
"What do you mean?"
"Tatooine is currently occupied by enemies of our way of life."
The Queen gasped, one hand coming up to cover her mouth, but Palomene merely nodded, as if she had expected this turn of events. 'Teki watched the two of them closely, monitoring their reactions to what Marianth was probably about to say.
Two more tears fell, and Marianth made a small noise like a sob. "Both my parents are dead, along with countless others. I do not know how they attacked, or what they did especially, all I know is that when I tried to reach out to people I knew in the Palace, I could not find them." 'Teki knew how much it was costing Marianth to remain calm, so she took one of her friend's hands and squeezed it gently. Marianth's blue eyes flashed to her for a second, before turning to Palomene as the Guardian spoke.
"Marianth", she spoke gently, as if she understood the girl's fear, "we would like it if you regained your Senshi form. The bond you have with your planet will be stronger then, and it will be easier for you to find out what has happened to Tatooine."
Marianth nodded, pushing her sorrow to the back of her mind, focussing all her thoughts on being calm and unemotional. She tried to draw on the well of power that existed deep within her, but the comforting gentle green light that usually suffused her heart had disappeared. Her eyes opened wide, and she stared up at Palomene in complete and utter terror, as the last remnant of her life before the attack had been taken away from her. Without her power as Sailor Tatooine, she really had nothing left.
'Teki knew instinctively what had happened, and she leapt forward to embrace Marianth, holding the older girl against herself as she sobbed brokenly. But as quickly as they started, Marianth stopped her tears, looking up defiantly, and it was then that 'Teki saw the maturity in her eyes that had been hidden before under her mask of being as blonde as she could be.
Marianth closed her blue eyes and took a deep breath. With a small gesture of her hand she drew from subspace a small wand, topped with a globe on which two overlapping circles had been inscribed. It had been a gift to Marianth from her mother, a long time ago, when she first started her Senshi training. "Something to aid your concentration", her mother had said, "Sometimes it helps."
Marianth looked at the small toy, remembering the joy of that first transformation, when both wand and words were needed to summon the power. "Tatooine Power", she said in a whisper, "Make up!" There was a flash of light unlike anything Marianth had ever known, starting deep within her and then expanding outward to engulf her completely. A searing heat brushed against her skin, lightly touching, but not burning Marianth, and she was aware of her clothes changing. An aura of power suffused her as she opened her eyes, the familiar power of the Senshi, only she knew it was completely different.
And looking down at her fuku, Marianth saw further evidence of the change that had taken place to her. Her skirt was a pale bleached yellow, as if faded by sunlight, as were the bands on her gloves and collar. Her front bow was orange as before and after leaning forward and twisting some Marianth checked that her back bow was still blue, the two ribbons being the colours of the twin suns of Tatooine.
Closing her eyes, Marianth touched the power deep within her, reaching beyond herself, out beyond the nearest stars, reaching beyond everything she could touch without the amplification of her Senshi bond, and touched Tatooine.
The first thing she felt was the heat, it was so hot, this world was never meant to be this hot. And empty. She could feel it as her jungles dehydrated and started to die, the creatures living on her surface were all desperately seeking water from any source, the rivers had suddenly seemed to disappear, evaporated and burnt from the atmosphere. And then she reached out to her cities, to find many of them seemingly deserted. No one remained in the forest towns, and as she searched out to find the Palace she found her heart breaking. The walls had crumbled, ruins marked the places were she had grown up and experienced so much.
And Marianth knew, without sensing the locations of their bodies, that her parents were indeed dead, as so many others were. Linked so completely with Tatooine, Marianth asked the question everyone wanted to know the answer to: What happened here?
Back on Coruscant, Palomene laid a hand on Marianth's arm, sharing the vision with the others in the medical bay.
Life on Tatooine was peaceful, quiet. The jungles provided sustenance for all; the light from the suns was never too bright. It was always summer, the air moist and warm, a favourite destination for tourists.
Suddenly and quite unnaturally, both suns were strangely eclipsed, the day cast into darkness. Those in the Palace immediately went on full alert, the volunteer soldiers and Queen Starwatcher all tried desperately to find out what is transpiring. There was a flash of light within the meeting room, and suddenly a woman was standing there, the woman of Marianth's dream, with her flame-red hair, bluish skin and elongated ears. She was taller than anyone else in the room, wearing a low cut purple dress that drew the eyes of the men and some of the women in the room.
"You will surrender control of your planet to me, and renounce your loyalties to Coruscant", she said in a harsh voice to her stunned audience. "Or else."
Queen Starwatcher looked as shocked as anyone else. "Do you know what it is that you ask?" she said. "Our ties with Coruscant have lasted since before the birth of the Sapphire Millennium. It would be impossible to break such a bond."
The woman shook her head. "If you do not swear your loyalty to me, I will destroy you." There was little emotion in her stance whatsoever other than a hatred and determination. Her eyes sparkled with fire and as she snapped her fingers, thirty soldiers appeared behind her, all armed. One, dressed in a grey uniform with red decoration, stepped forward and shot Liamen Kiarah who had been advisor to the Queen for more than thirty years. The evil woman laughed as the others from Tatooine looked on horrified, but Queen Starwatcher still stood proud and would not speak.
"Not even to save your people?" The redhead asked her question with excessive drama, sweeping one hand out to draw everyone's attention to outside, where the unnatural eclipse had covered Tatooine's surface in darkness. Purple lightning crackled in the sky, striking randomly throughout the city.
"We will be loyal to our Queen", Queen Starwatcher said, "no matter what you do to us, they will fight you. You should beware of the Senshi." She drew herself up, calling upon the power of Tatooine and throwing it out at the woman in the form of a bolt of light. But a wall of darkness that surrounded her group absorbed the fiery energy, so that no one was harmed by Sailor Tatooine's most powerful attack.
The woman smiled at Queen Starwatcher. "Oh, don't worry", she said politely, "I have plans for the Senshi." A flash of light blinded all in the room for a moment, and both she and her soldiers disappeared.
Outside, there was a brief rumble of thunder on the horizon, and then all hell broke loose.
Marianth screamed at the remembered pain, as the surface of Tatooine was torn apart, the people massacred, the atmosphere destroyed. She felt the unnatural pull of gravity suddenly moving her closer to her stars, so that they burned her so much, nothing was right anymore. Everything was pain and agony and loss.
Palomene tightened her grip on Marianth's arm, bringing the Senshi back to herself. Marianth's eyes were haunted by her grief, and no one in the room was unaffected by what they had seen.
"Sleep now", Palomene murmured softly, and Marianth found herself closing her eyes, falling back against her pillows in a deep slumber.
'Teki turned to look at her Queen for guidance or advice, and was surprised to see that her normally controlled monarch crying. Reaching a hand up to her own face, 'Teki realised that she too was weeping. "What are we to do?" she asked in a broken voice.
"There is nothing we can do at the moment", Palomene said to her. "We can only hope that they will not attack us again before we are ready."
"None of us could stop such an attack. Not even our combined powers would be able to protect our people."
The Queen looked up quickly, her eyes shinning with tears. "There is one power that would be able to stop them", she murmured, fingering a locket that hung at her breast.
'Teki did not understand, but remained silent as Palomene stepped forward to put a restraining hand on her Queen's arm. "It will not come to that, Your Majesty. We will stop them."
"Let us hope so."
Princess Amaterasu ran through the Palace, trying to be as dignified as possible while getting to where she was wanted in the quickest time imaginable. Somewhere behind her, the Senshi that 'Teki had put to watching her were following, but Princess Amaterasu simply did not care if they kept up.
Dashing out one of the large sets of double doors that marked the corridor, Princess Amaterasu sighed happily at the moonlit sky. Two of Coruscant's moons were visible tonight; painting everything in pale silver light that seemed almost magical. Glancing to each side quickly, she ran through the gardens, one hand holding the end of her skirt so that she would not trip.
Finally, she broke through the trees to find herself in the glade that hosted Sailor Coruscant's statue. Standing on the far side of the fountain was a man who seemed a little worried, and she ran up and embraced him before he had a chance to realise that she was near, planting her lips against his in a passionate kiss.
"Hello, Princess Amaterasu." Prince Nazoru murmured, stepping away from her embrace awkwardly and bowing with overdone formality.
She looked up at him, a little started at his non-response to her presence. "What is wrong?" she asked, taking a step back self-consciously.
"Nothing is wrong", he said, trying to smile convincingly and knowing that she could see through him. Finally he sighed and looked away, sitting down by the fountain's edge. "I was reminded by your guardians today that you are my sacred Princess who I have to serve until death."
"What?" She looked completely confused.
"I was also told that if I lay a hand on you, they would do some rather serious damage to certain parts of my anatomy."
Princess Amaterasu looked furious, eyes as cold as those on the statue behind her. "I will kill those girls", she muttered angrily.
"They have a very valid point", Prince Nazoru said, and the Princess turned those icy blue eyes on him. "I don't want to upset your mother, so I think it best if I court you properly. If you will allow it of course."
"What do you mean?" She took a step away from him, suddenly frightened.
He looked a little terrified himself as he reached for one of her hands, admiring for an instant her long pale fingers. "Princess, I have fallen in love with you", he said simply, wondering if he had gone insane to tell her that.
Her eyes met his as if seeking confirmation or reassurance, he could not tell which. "Please tell me you are not lying", she whispered, sinking to the ground and pulling her knees up in front of her so that she could wrap her arms around them.
Prince Nazoru knelt down beside her, taking her hands in his. "I could never lie to you."
The Princess looked down at the ground, unable to meet his gaze and unsure of what would happen next. "I fell in love with you when we first met", she whispered so softly that he almost could not be sure he heard her correctly, "but I could never tell you." She blushed, horrified that she was revealing so much of herself.
He reached out a hand to tilt her chin up so that she was looking at him, and hoped that all that he felt showed in his face. She was the first to move, just slightly, and they kissed under the moonlight in the shadow of Sailor Coruscant's statue.
A flash of light caused the two young people to break apart, to see a group of angry Senshi looking incredibly menacing, all showing signs of losing control of their powers. 'Lailen stood at the front of the group, and it was no mist that seemed to flash in her hair. "I thought I told you to stay away from the Princess", she said in a tone full of fury.
"I was actually just giving the Princess my reasons for the way I intend to treat her", Prince Nazoru said as he got to his feet, offering Princess Amaterasu a hand up from the ground. "And now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have to go meet with the Queen." He walked quickly from the gardens, leaving a group of stunned Senshi in his wake as well as a very confused Princess.
'He loves me?' she thought over and over, trying to make herself believe it, 'is it possible?'
Sighing to herself, Amaterasu turned and walked away in the opposite direction to the Prince, heading to her rooms where she intended to spend most of the night thinking over this most dramatic turn of events. After a moment's deliberation, the Senshi split into two groups, one to follow the Prince, the other to escort the Princess back to her room.
The following day on Coruscant dawned overcast, with heavy clouds obscuring the sun and wreaking some small havoc with travellers and some communications. Princess Amaterasu awoke late, as she often did when the sky was darker than usual, and no one commented when she was late to class. The fact that she had staid up half the night pondering the sincerity of Prince Nazoru's words had nothing to do with her lethargy, nor did the fact that she had spent the other half of the night dreaming of him, and of what she would do to him if she ever managed to corner him when they were truly alone. If anyone had asked, Amaterasu had decided to say that she had been up studying from her protocol textbooks. She could recite those things forwards and backwards, and she was reasonably certain that there was not a person in the Galaxy whom she did not know how to address.
Around midday, she was allowed down in the medical bay, where Marianth seemed to be recovering nicely. They talked for some time, but Marianth told the Princess nothing of what had happened to her world. She simply said that the excitement of the ball had triggered the fever that had made her ill, and that Palomene believed it had something to do with the change of seasons on Tatooine.
If Marianth seemed more subdued than normal, the Princess did not notice it, being too excited with her own news of what had passed between the Prince and her. Marianth had never seen the Princess so glowingly happy, filled with joy and completely ignoring the fact that her relationship with the Prince had most likely been arranged by Palomene and the Queen.
The day progressed in a normal fashion for the Princess, and she was kept unaware of the preparations for war that were taking place all around the kingdoms of the Sapphire Millennium.
"Your forces are moving towards Toxtenkopp, my Queen", Hematite said as he bowed deeply to her, "We shall be there before the week is out."
Seated on her carved bone throne, the one he knew only as the Queen of Darkness smiled, her blood red hair flaming out around her in a display of power. Her eyes shone with both passion and a consuming desire for the destruction of all that was part of the Sapphire Millennium. Hematite ran a hand through his short blonde hair somewhat nervously, ill at ease in front of the woman he had sworn to serve.
"What news of Coruscant?" Her voice was soft and sweet, full of an innocence that the Queen did not possess. The first time he had heard her voice in his dreams, he had believed her lies about wanting to change the Galaxy for the better.
She had told him that she had travelled far, from a different part of the Universe, which had begun like the Sapphire Millennium and ended in darkness and hatred. He had believed the Queen of Darkness when she said that she was in taking control of the Galaxy from Queen Amaterasu in order to save it from itself. It was only later that he learned from the youma that the Queen had been the one to bring hatred to her Galaxy, and that she intended to do the same in this one, and so on until she ruled as much of the universe as she could. The Queen was immortal, or as close to it as possible, for he had heard it said that her and her armies had been travelling for close to a thousand years before they had arrived at the edges of the Galaxy.
"General Amatite told me that they have discovered what happened to Tatooine", Hematite answered her with a neutral face, "It was sooner than we had expected, it seems that we underestimated the young Sailor Tatooine's link with her planet. The Senshi on Coruscant are thinking to prepare themselves for attack, but they have done little to prepare the other worlds of the Galaxy."
"Will they anticipate our next move?" She looked around her throne room at her minions, but her ice-cold words were intended for her General alone.
"We do not believe so, my Queen. General Amatite is keeping close watch on those of Coruscant, and Sailor Toxtenkopp shows no signs of anxiety other than those displayed by the other Senshi. We can only hope that her father will accede to the demands we shall make, and his people can escape slaughter, for I know that if 'Lailen was on Toxtenkopp her people would resist. Without their Senshi Princess to lead the mercenary forces in a united attack, they have no hope of surviving an attack."
The Queen smiled at the thought of such an onslaught, and Hematite privately feared the enjoyment she would take if such a battle took place. He had seen her after the destruction of Tatooine, the Dark Queen had seemed engorged by the pain and suffering her power had created. Her eyes had glowed with power and a normally concealed madness. It was only then that Hematite began to realise that death, for him and his people, may have been a better choice than serving this monster.
"Proceed with your duties, General Hematite", she said, dismissing him to return to her musings. As Hematite teleported himself to another part of the great destroyer, the Dark Queen's youma attendants rushed forward to assist the Queen should she need them.
"Watch over the General", she said to a shadowed form camouflaged against the back wall of the throne room. "We are uncertain as to where his heart's loyalties lie. Be certain he does not betray us." The near-invisible youma disappeared completely from sight, and the Queen sensed rather than saw it running out of the room to find Hematite.
"At the end of the week, we will gain another world for our collection." The Queen spoke to herself, smiling. "Are you watching, Amaterasu?"
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