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Cancer was going to lock hands like a pro. As Virgo gave the orders, Cancer didn't hesitate as she to Leo's side. "Done and done!" Giving the hand her her's a tight squeeze, she had to admit, she wasn't sure what was going to happen, but this was do or die, now or never. Closing her eyes, she did pray. She prayed that she could go home, see those she'd left behind again. She prayed that This magic, wonderful, special place wouldn't be torn apart. She prayed she would be able to make a difference.

She even had a tiny prayer, that Anders was happy where ever he was.

"You gotta be ******** kidding me..." Leto muttered as she watched the Senshi join hands and close their eyes.

"We're in the middle of a giant battle and they're standing in a circle ******** meditating, ready to sing kumbaya? Why are we just standing here!?"

Leto shrieked with frustration as they idley stood by and waited for... For what, exactly? For the barrier to randomly disappear again? For the Senshi to finish their pow-wow and attack? God damnit. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her heels digging into the ground beneath her.

"This is ******** ridiculous!"

It seems that Sailor Leto had gotten into the habit of adding the word ******** to every single sentence that she spewed out today.

Nemesis believed in the power that she possessed, and if that was not enough, there was nothing and no one she could turn to for aid. She always lacked faith in the cosmos, and memories of her past life only plagued her already wavering faith. At times she believed she was fighting the war on her own, that there was no BMC court standing at her side. If she couldn't do it, no one else could. It was why she had to be the strongest, the most powerful senshi there was, so she could do everything she desired to accomplish. Nemesis could not inflict any change in the battle if she was not strong enough, and if it was not her own strength.

Praying was almost out of the question. What help could possibly come from her asking for it? Help would be more inclined to listen to someone like Sailor Virgo. Nemesis didn't have faith in this 'close your eyes and will something good to happen' method, but there wasn't much choice next. Those whispered words were encouraging her to at least give it a try. Besides, there was little else she could do while the barrier was still up. She could not fight, could not face her foes and her demons head on.

"But, you see, I make a living out of being difficult. I like to consider myself a personal pain in the a** for anyone who tries to sway me from the path I choose to follow. Don't ******** with me, Requiem. You were forced onto that side, and not by choice. You were someone I could have been proud of, but if you choose to frolic along through their field, ******** fine with me. I'll learn to see you as an object in my way, instead of the senshi I once knew and once cared for." Her words were harsh, as if she were convincing herself that this is what she needed to do. This was what she had to do when it came to Alkaid - it was the only way she could bring herself to fight and defend herself. She was going to have to do the same for Requiem, and any past BMC senshi.

A challenge, "I'd like to see you ******** try, Requiem."

Then she sucked in a short, calming breath. Her eyes did not close, instead focused straight ahead at Requiem. She did not see the girl so much as knew that she was there, but her gaze was hard, steeled for what was to come. Underneath the hard exterior of her face, she was searching for it, the strength she needed, the will and determination she desired. Finally, her eyes closed, and for a split second she hoped this worked, or she would be embarrassed.

A voice cut through her meditation, one that pissed her off. This was why she was not going to follow Requiem into chaos. The voice was of a particularly annoying pitch, and something that could easily distract her. It was also something she couldn't tune out. "Oh, for ******** sake, shut the <******** up," she growled underneath her breath. She was going to become strong enough on her own to beat the s**t out of that Great Youma, and in order to do that she had to ask for help from something she had troubled believing in.

She was sure this was going to be a breeze.

"Avalon, would care to join me in this bout of prayer and use of magical dickery to send these pathetic excuses for human beings back to the s**t holes they crawled out of?" Pollux waved at the captain. "Good luck on survive your HIV, herpes, gonorrhea, and god knows what else." Another glace to Avalon.
"It's always nice when they take themselves out for us isn't it?"

His fingers laced with Thisbe's as she grabbed his hand and he closed his eyes. His mind and heart reached out to the little hunk of rock that had once been his home, his civilization, and asked for that light that he knew was there.

He could almost see it again. The beautiful blaze of lanterns hanging over ever street during festivals outshining the stars above was a memory he had now that he'd never knew he missed as much as he did. Now it gave him strength. The light of those ever burning lanterns fueled his heart and his power.

The Guiding Lights will always burn bright .... brighter than any darkness

Slowly he slipped down to his knee's he couldn't move any farther. "Thank you Gunn..." he whispered. As they finally neared the others. The light was so warm, so welcoming it was nice.

His head lulling backwards eyes slowly closing as something reached down into his very soul to his starseed once again. It wasn't the pain of abusing his power it was warm, softer, like something far away was whispering and singing to him. The sound of anvils and hammers ringing softly grew in his head. It was like music to his ears. Fire and water caused hisses to softly pierce the rhythm of hammer to steel. It was so soothing and welcoming.

Slowly his mouth worked mummbling quiet words he did not understand, he reached a hand out gently as if trying to find something, in his mind it was a hammer glowing gold, it was home, it was hope, it was a past he missed and longed to see someday again as he gave what little hope he could to fuel the power around him.

"Build us a future..." he mumbled softly resting against Gunn's leg weary and weighted.

A Zodiac, one Mica was pretty sure had been killed, had come back to life. It didn’t matter though. For all the new Knights that awoke, for all the Senshi that had gathered, for all the civilians they had sacrificed, the Surrounding would be lost. This barrier was merely delaying the inevitable. Still, their little prayer circle had her on edge, so every now and then she tested the barrier with the butt of her spear, testing for weakness.

Avalon, at that point, had lost all her attention to the commotion and then silence of the group behind her. She looked over her shoulder, smile falling. Ask Avalon for what power it could give her? Come on, she was only a Page. Avalon barely gave her anything, it gave her a ******** apple to fight people with swords and knives. She still grabbed on tight to Pollux's arm and dragged him away, sparing a rude gesture for Osumilite before they passed out of sight in the crowd.

She could do this, she thought, couldn't she? Doubt lurked in the back of her mind, reinforced by the words of that dreadful presence. The Surrounding, taken for a greater purpose--Avalon and Pollux and all of them, corrupted if they were unlucky, dead if they weren't. Above her, the stars stayed still. They didn't flicker, because the twinkling that comforted mothers and their babies was a result of atmospheric turbulence. The pavers beneath her feet were uneven to a small fraction of a centimeter, she could feel it under her shoes. The wind moved over her bare arms at a rate of a few miles an hour. In her hand, Pollux's perspired. Her dark eyes flickered open, doubt suffusing her features.

She couldn't. There wasn't enough going for her, and she looked up through the golden dome again with the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

There, floating serenely, was a small blue dot. It might not be Earth, but it looked enough like it--well, as much as a tiny glowing dot could--that it took her breath away, and she remembered why she'd even come here. Earth was home. Sacred and home. Earth, where Pollux made inappropriate jokes during solemn occasions, and this time she did cry, tears dripping down her face. "Yeah," she said, "but let's make sure he has time to feel it all, alright?"

So sleep lightly, child, in thine angel's care-- but no lives would be moving on today. Earth was home, and this place made it possible for it to be defended. This place kept that terrible voice contained, and it could not fall. "Avalon, help us," she said, her tone soft and reverent. "The stars need you."

Was she imagining something inside her responding?...