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[Super Sailor Phaethon of Happiness]

Phaethon had wanted to say something else to Nembus. He wasn't sure what. Something that told her it was alright, he understood? Something that took that look of worry off her face, maybe? Something that suggested that she didn't have to stay in the Negaverse if she didn't want to? He wasn't sure. The words died on his lips before they ever made it out, Nembus swept away by the flare of power on the field that had removed not only her, but the guardian cat nearby, and the waves of members of the Negaverse that had been all around him.

The power from the central console flared, and for a moment, Phaethon though that it was perhaps good that Nembus was on the wrong side.

At least, she wouldn't be subjected to this--

He gathered within himself and held his legs close to his body, closing his eyes and pressing his head to the tops of his knees. He waited for the explosion, waited for the end of everything--

The end of everything that never came, and he let out a whuff of air as he withdrew from himself. Where was he? Nothing of this place looked familiar, and the star brooch on his chest was even less so. It took a few moments for him to get his bearings. The room was elegant. It reminded him of an old palace--an old palace with an even older machine, from the sounds of it. The people around him made several implications that they were in space. The Moon? He guessed he could understand being on the moon.

Not any stranger than being on Phaethon itself.

Where had Nembus gone? She had left before him, but had clearly not ended up here. She had likely gone with her queen, no doubt. He hoped she was okay. He hoped-- The blip in his chest caught his attention and his eyes were drawn to the map above. Odd. He wondered what that was about--

Had the explosion of the comet above radiated out that far?

Knight Saqqara of Uranus

There was much to unpack in what the Code said- both to herself and to others. "If we only listen to things we want to hear, we are fools." But to the code, she also added- with a small, tired smile- "You sound like a personal trainer. It is not your job to be our friend, but to make us fit."

Still, she sighed. The balance of Chaos, the inability to simply summon the pieces back to itself- oh, for good reason, as the Code had said- and her body sagged as the pain in her starseed pulsed again in another wave, something sparking inside her in a way that felt... odd. Uncomfortable. Too much given how raw she felt.

"I'm tired and I need a shower." The announcement was small. Silly. Saqqara was coming down from adrenaline, and the gravity of what she had done was setting in. She was surrounded, now, by strangers. Where had she lived before? What had been her name? Did she... have any family? A pet? Friends? Would she be missed? Would she have any money on her, when the visage of Saqqara fell?

She was cold, now that the heat of fear and exertion no longer warmed her blood. And how exposed she felt had nothing to do with her new uniform.

"Please pardon me." she muttered to the Pedestal that held the Code- just in case it, too, was sentient- and she rested herself against it once again. Her brain felt... scrambled.

Perhaps she should go to her Wonder. Maybe there would be baths. Or food?

Sailor Tachibana, Chibi Senshi of Chrysanthemums

Tachibana was scared when the explosion went off, so scared that she would never get to say goodbye to her mother, her twin, or any of her other sibling. Scared they would never even have her body to burry, she would be incinerated by the massive fireball. But then she was floating through space on what felt like a lazy river made of pure light. She was eventually deposited in a beautiful room that she had never seen before. The architecture was unique but she couldn't place it. She didn't feel any pain despite the cuts and bruises that were all over her body

For a while she was just stunned trying to take in everything had just happened it was all too much. Maybe she should talk to Taiki-nii about it later, she could have sworn she had seen him in the battle but it was so chaotic she wasn't sure. She was glad though that her magic had at least been useful in helping take down one of the generators. She overheard people talking, talk of a broken starseed, talk of a Queen, talk of the Moon.

She looked around eventually spotted a familiar face in Ida, she decided to make her way over to them. "Ida-nee are you ok?" Then she noticed the guardian cat that Ida had been protecting during the battle. "Oh and the kitty from before, you're not hurt are you?"

Super Sailor Cybele

As with the other times that Cybele had been given energy, it felt warm against her palm, and this time, with the exhaustion threatening to overtake her, it felt distinctly soothing. Cybele smiled her thanks.

Others were beginning to disperse around the room. Scylla and Oberon were over checking on the alien king. Cybele was not sure what had happened to him. She was also not sure that she cared. After everything that had happened, looking at any of the Velencyans made her stomach twist.

Many people were talking to the broken computer over in the corner. Cybele felt something spark in her when it activated the map on the ceiling, but that did not mean its millennium-old responses were much help for anything.

The thing surrounded by knight, the Code, seemed to be making a bit more sense, but Cybele was not a knight, and it was not her place to interrupt any of that.

Instead, she went around the knights and around the code. Alone, she squeezed past the crumbling statue that marked the entrance to the room, and she walked down the larger corridor until she found her way to a familiar courtyard.

Later, there would be much to talk about, but right now, coming off of her near-corruption, Cybele just wanted a moment of calm, a moment of stillness. She perched herself on a marble bench and breathed deeply as she watched the Earth spin above.

Andronicus Knight of Uranus

Giving a little bow to the group, she withdrew from the Code room. There were too many people and she was starting to feel out of place again. Andronicus floated back into the main space, keeping to the edges of the room to give Caedus the space he needed. She leaned against a wall and just... watched. Listened.

It sounded a little like Caedus had been a child they tried to awaken straight to adult senshi. Besides, if the Moon Kingdom wouldn't send a Mau to Velenia, there wasn't any other way to awaken a senshi. Unlike knights, they couldn't spontaneously awaken. They'd been desperate. She understood that. Desperation made people do drastic things, going so far as allying with your enemy.

What she didn't understand though, was why Lyndin decided to take the starseed. He'd said he'd take it to the Cauldron himself, but Caedus wasn't even sure if Cosmos would take it. So what, then, was the point of the generators? Clearly not to take out Metallia. Perhaps power Velencya a little longer until Caedus could be reborn? Even then, the starseed wouldn't be reborn for at least seven years - or more, given how long lived the Velencyans were. Plus, there wasn't a guarentee that Velenia would be reborn on Velencya. It was actually more likely Velenia would be reborn among the Earthlings, given this reincarnation cycle.

Argh none of this seemed like it would come out a win for all parties involved. Either Caedus died... or Velencya did.

(Stars did she hate how she could understand Lyndin's methods and see how he'd come to the decision to end Caedus.)

Warmth sparked in her chest, gentle as a breeze among the dunes of Uranus, and she pressed a hand over where her starseed would be. What... what was that? She wondered if the energy from the generators had dispersed across the galaxy. She wouldn't let herself thing that maybe, just maybe, the Andronicus and Uranus were waking up.

That was hoping for too much.

If the Code took offense to Dunwich’s offense, it was quickly forgotten. “I told you I felt a burst of energy.” To Imhotep, “That’s what it feels like when the source of your power’s just been showered with it. I’m going to guess that comet you blew up was pretty powerful. Must have taken a lot of energy. Or a little. Either way, it’s spreading. So maybe you didn’t get the short end of the stick this time around.”

It looked down at Coco, like it was trying to figure out if it wanted to be kind to a Mauvian. “No one designed me. I simply am. Like any other force of nature.”



Caedus listened, quiet and receptive to what was being said around him. He held onto every word, considered everything. When Scylla began to move away from him, he didn’t really think about what he was doing, but his hand wrapped around her wrist--loosely, not to keep her there if she didn’t want to stay. But, it was a silent request that she not stray far from him.

He knew her, he trusted her.

He was overwhelmed and she was one of a few people that had the power to keep him grounded.

He wasn’t looking anywhere in particular, not at first, but he slowly seemed to make up his mind. He managed a tired, half-hearted smile for the group. “I think you give me too much credit. But thank you, Pendour. That means a lot to me. You will be okay. I still think you are strong.”

And, he was glad she had somewhere to go tonight.

He nodded to Encke, grateful for his support, and Basiluzzo earned the same. Kerberos’ words made him swallow, but he earned another nod.

He had time to think. Time to breathe. People to hope and dream when he picked up the pieces of whatever he was and tried to figure out how to put them back together.

But, he wasn’t alone, and everyone around him reminded him of that.

He still seemed small, and shaken, and out of place; there was worry and hurt on his face, but he was breathing. He hadn’t succeeded in escaping into his mind, and he’d heard the words of support that he needed to keep himself going.

He held onto Scylla like she was a lifeline, and he didn't want her to go too far from him. Not if she was sorry. Not if she was flinching. Not if something was wrong.

The battle was a haze for him, and he could remember bits and pieces. He wasn’t ready to dig too deeply.

He hadn’t felt anything; he couldn’t contribute any answers, so he glanced at the ceiling for just a moment and then returned his attention to Vaylin. “I think you are strong. I do not blame anyone. I am sorry that this did not go according to plan. But I feel better hearing that. I want to save Velenia.” He released a shuddery breath, and quieter, said, “And Earth. So, thank you.”

He reached his hand from his chest to rub at his face, like maybe he was trying to wake himself up, or just get control over himself. He was tired, and he’d have laid down if he wasn’t still in the middle of the room.



The computer seemed briefly distracted; it was either trying to focus on the Mauvians tinkering with it, or trying to process too many questions at once.

“Application pending. Someone will speak with you shortly,” it said to Lacaille, but it was clear at this point in time that it was operating under a program that was dependent on someone actually being there to accept its requests.

When asked about the energy source, it was fairly unhelpful. “Unknown energy source. Analyzing.”

But then, a loading screen, and it seemed to speak over itself before it fell silent and then started speaking again. “Velencya is a synthetic world, home to nomadic colony of Velenians,” the kiosk explained finally, as cheery as ever. Velenia is reported uninhabitable. A catastrophic collision destroyed both moons. Velenia has no reported activity and no current information reported.”

“Mau, home to Mauvians. No activity reported. Shields are still up. Communication is currently closed. Requesting communication.”

Another loading symbol; the screen briefly flashed with a pawprint, and then went blank.

“Communication denied. Mau is a close ally to the Moon Kingdom. They are a resourceful people who share technology and resources. If you require technological assistance, MauTech is universally renowned. You can also file a request for an Mauvian diplomat if you require Senshi assistance. The Moon Kingdom is happy to facilitate contacts.”

And then, “Metis. Downloading information, please hold.”

Cadet Valnyr

It took her several moments to register what the console had said, but Valnyr did glance towards it for a moment before turning her gaze back up towards the ceiling. Whatever the light was above them, it was spreading far and wide. Every so often something would 'blip', light up, and then return to normal. In a manner of speaking it really was rather hynoptic and had the circumstances been less grave she would have been inclined to watch it for days, if not weeks. She didn't understand it in any great detail, but she would very much have liked to.

...And the mention of the library.

Would she be welcome on the moon again at some point in time, or was her presence here merely a blessing that wouldn't be repeated? She knew better than to question timely intervention, if someone hadn't reached out to pull them to safety then she would have been on a journey through the cauldron by now. Nevertheless, the potential secrets and information that lurked here might prove to not be interesting from an academic point of view, but perhaps somewhere on those towering shelves (or so she imagined they would be), there would be an answer that might well save Velenia.

An answer that didn't require execution or torturous experiments.

Granted she was mentally putting feelings and experiences into Caedus at this point and perhaps they hadn't been as painful as they looked, but what she had seen on that field had made it clear that whatever they had done had not been successful and it hadn't been friendly.

"The Code?" she pursed her lips. Aogashima didn't sound entirely sure of her own explanation but that made some measure of sense to the alien. The Knights had to get their power from somewhere and Valnyr had in part assumed it came from the planet, but given Cosmos had knights and she wasn't exactly a planet, Valnyr's logic hadn't been sound. The fact that something else existed beyond planetary strength made a little more sense, not a great amount of sense, but she grasped a portion of it.

"Mmm, perhaps there is another way in to the Moon?" she asked, unaware they were actually in a palace. "Another door might be available..." she murmured thoughtfully.

However Aogashima's final question did give her pause for thought. She had known that she couldn't follow the Commodore, his actions hadn't sat well with her and the request for 'trust' in the face of evidence that they were hurting people hadn't been enough. In the back of her mind she had known that making that choice would mean she was unlikely to be able to go home... But now that she was not in the heat of chaos, that little fact was beginning to settle in. It hurt more than she thought it would, a sharp twinge in her chest.

Aoga's question was valid, she couldn't go home could she?

She hadn't heard Caedus's murmurs regarding the possibility of sending them back, but even if the opportunity was there would she go? Truth be told she failed to see what she could achieve, her word against Lyndin's would seem largely pointless.

...She could do more here.

"I think that perhaps it might be best if I offer my sincere apologies to your sister and then see if she is still willing to offer sanctuary?" she offered after a moment. She wouldn't say no to such a warm and welcoming offer, but if there was one thing she did want to be sure of, it was that those who were around her were comfortable and happy to be there. Regardless, she still offered a warm smile to express her gratitude, Aogashima hadn't needed to open her door and yet she had... In fact it sounded like several senshi had already opened their doors in some capacity.

She had chosen what she felt was right, they really were the more benevolent. At least that was the impression she had at this point in time. They didn't even have to trust them and yet some still did, they didn't have to be so compassionate, and yet here they were... An offering of hospitality with nothing requested in return.

Something to be remembered and treasured, that much was certain.

"Then you can show me how one should be human, yes?" She finished. She was slightly more nervous at the prospect of fitting in that way, but she would do her best and perhaps with enough immersion, she might actually get good enough to pass without suspicion!