Kirin stood in darkness. Weightless, nothing above or below him and yet he somehow stood firm. No hint of light pierced the black veil and yet Kirin could picture himself clearly. With no way of measuring the passing of time, Kirin had no idea how long as stood, calm and safe in dark solitude. Eventually it occurred to him that he should move. There was something he had to do. There was someone he had to find. Even though he was content where he was, something tugged at him, tempting him into action.

He began walking. Not in any particular direction, for there was no way to tell left from right, or up from down. He simply moved forward, unknowing, uncaring, of where it might lead. He only knew that what he sought was not where he was, therefore he must move on.

Pinpricks poked through the dark curtain of emptiness. A tiny glimmer of light here and there. They multiplied as Kirin moved further forward - stars, at first tentative and shy, then gaining confidence as more appeared. They blinked and twinkled, some hidden language only stars knew, speaking to each other across the vastness of space. Stars, stars, as far as the eye could see. And as Kirin glided through the nightscape, the stars lit up as he passed, flaring brightly and even though they dimmed as he left them behind they retained a stronger glimmer than those he had yet to reach. He couldn't help but think of them as 'his' in some way, conquests of the night sky, whirling and shining at his whim. Reaching out, he trailed fingertips through the tiny balls of light, for they remained tiny to him no matter how close he moved, even as his fingers reached them and were briefly warmed by their fire. At his urging, the stars danced under his fingers, allowing themselves to be swirled into new patterns. Kirin flicked at one of them, and the star trembled before breaking into infinitesimal droplets, which became faint stars of their own.

Originally he had thought he moved with no particular destination in mind, but as he continued on and his dominion increased, Kirin became aware that he was indeed moving with purpose. A desire to view all the stars in this universe grew, rising up from within to propel him towards the largest cluster of lights in the distance. Hundreds upon hundreds of stars, not so dissimilar from one another, and yet the more Kirin saw, the greater his hunger. It wasn't enough. He wanted to see them all, to have touched them, felt their fire and moved them as he willed. A pleased smile lit his face as he realised no one could stop him from doing exactly that. Or so he thought.

For suddenly there was someone blocking his path. Forced to halt, Kirin glowered at the girl in his way. Stepping to the side never occurred to him - why should he have to move for this worm, and what manner of worm was this to interfere with his desires?

"Move aside," Kirin commanded, "or I will go through you."

The girl reached out one hand and entreated, "Can't we travel together? We're looking for the same thing. We could help each other."

Kirin scoffed at the ridiculous notion. "I do not need any help, or company. Why would I share anything with such a worm as yourself? Whatever I find will be mine, and mine alone."

With that said, he walked forward. The girl held her ground. Kirin didn't stop, walking right through her as though she wasn't there. And when he looked over his shoulder, she was indeed no longer there, having dispersed like mist when he strode through her. Shrugging, Kirin continued on.

Soon he came to another girl in his path. Then a boy, then another girl. Everyone he met asked to join him, and Kirin denied them all. All he wanted was to view and control the stars on his own. If everyone else tried moving them, they'd no longer fit his beautiful patterns - it would be ugly chaos.

Finally he approached the brightest cluster of stars he could imagine. But here, another girl stood guard. "You need to stop now," she told him, which was a break from the usual routine. "You've gone too far, you mustn't go any further."

Confused by the change in script, Kirin nevertheless bestowed this girl with his usual glower. "Why should I stop?" he demanded. "I don't have what I want yet. Why shouldn't I do as I please?"

The girl closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. Opening her eyes, she stared at Kirin, a stern iron will showing beneath her beseeching tone. "This is your last chance. If you move beyond here, it will be too late. Kiri, please, you must not-!"

Kirin saw red. With a yell, he lunged forward and swept an arm through the girl. Her expression revealed shock and sadness as she, too, broke apart like mist. Breath heaving, Kirin stood there, clenching and unclenching his fist. "Only my mother can call me that," he said to the empty space where the girl had stood. Then he continued on, entering the bright cluster of stars.

Here, Kirin was surrounded by light. Rather than darkness pierced by bright stars, it seemed as though the light was speckled with black stars. This was where Kirin had most desired to be, and yet now that he had reached his destination, he found himself wincing and raising a hand to shade his eyes. The light was blinding, burning his eyes and searing his skin. Spinning around, he looked for relief but could find none. "What is this?" he cried.

"You know what this is," a gentle and familiar voice replied. Kirin both thrilled and despaired to hear it - the lady Queen Serenity. "Welcome to the Star Cauldron."

Finally, finally. Even though he was in pain and couldn't open his eyes against the light, Kirin's grin was fit to burst. "I made it. I made it!"

"You did," Serenity answered gravely. "But at what price?"

"I don't care!" came the immediate answer. "Whatever it cost me, now I can ask it to give me back my mother. I know it can make a deal, just like you told us about the Zodiacs. I have starseeds to offer in return-! Make it bring back my mother!"

The ensuing pause was heavy. If Kirin could see, he would have seen Queen Serenity lower her head, appearing to be in more pain than Kirin himself. "Kirin," she began, her gentleness like hot needles piercing his skin as not even the light could do. "Don't you remember? It already did. You killed your mother just now, when she tried to stop you."

Kirin stomach fell out beneath him. His skin was suddenly ice cold. Eyes flew open to find no trace of light left in the Cauldron, just the ghostly image of Queen Serenity staring him down. Voice barely even a whisper, he said, "What? No, I didn't... I couldn't..."

Sorrow lined the Queen's face, aging her in a way Kirin wouldn't have thought possible. "Why did you kill them all, Kirin?"

"What?"

Kirin spun to look behind him. Marking the path he'd taken was not, in fact, a trail of stars. It was a trail of starseeds. Every 'star' he'd come across and claimed for his own, those shattered to ghosts of their former glory, and those left as grave markers for the senshi who'd tried to stop him. It was to the most recent of those that he moved, steps slow and shaking at first, then breaking into a run. He fell to the ground in front of the dead starseed, a deep red in colour now that it was no longer lit by its own inner light. With trembling fingers he touched the starseed. He was immediately assaulted with a feeling of safety, of love and warmth, wisps of memory blooming in his mind and quickly fading.

"M-mom?" he whispered. His voice broke mid-syllable. White noise thundered in his ears as he knelt in the starseed graveyard, clutching all that was left of his mother and his dreams.

Kirin woke himself screaming.