She’d failed. She’d failed and Bianca was dead and? She. Had. Failed. Though Chariklo had popped out of Mirrorspace only moments before with the body of her friend and team mate, she’d just as quickly ducked back in. Mirrorspace, for now, was safe. With a weary sigh, Chariklo set Bianca’s body down as gently as possible under the circumstances before sinking down beside it. It should have just been a routine patrol. Safe. Instead, she’d ended up inadvertantly serving Bianca up as a sacrifice to some crazy maniac.

Choking back a sob, the mohawked senshi rolled to her knees and pulled Bianca’s upper body into her lap. A shred of her dress’ overlay served as a rag that she used to try and mop away the blood and kerosene that coated the girls’ body. As she worked, the last of the senshi magic that had kept the body in henshin form faded, leaving behind a small, broken thing dressed in ragged jeans and a striped t-shirt. Unbidden, tears came pouring from Chariklo’s eyes as she stared down at the girl’s face. Except for the faint, lingering expression of terrible pain, she might have only been sleeping.

Bending at the waist, Chariklo wrapped her arms around the other girl and hugged her close, all the time whispering frantically, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Bia. This is all my fault. You’re dead and it’s all my fault.”

Soon, tears became wracking sobs as they sat in Mirrorspace. She never should have tried to train anyone. She should have just let Leto handle it, but Leto was so busy anymore and truly, Chariklo had only wanted to help protect her strange family. Hard on the heels of that thought came another: she was going to have to explain this to Leto. And Amytis. Oh, they were going to hate her for this. She knew it. This mess was all her fault.

“I only wanted to help you, Bianca. I wanted you to be strong and capable. I didn’t think you’d die. I only wanted to keep us all safe.”

Voice cracking on the last word she spoke, Chariklo glanced up through tear-blurred eyes in time to see one of the mirrors surrounding them pulse with a strange light. Blinking a bit, she watched suspiciously, ready to grab Bianca’s body and run again if need be.

As if sensing her fright, the mirror’s pulsing seemed to becoming gentle, almost beckoning. Standing carefully, Chariklo hobbled over and looked deep within the mirror. A strange ear cuff decorated with long, metallic ‘feathers’ seemed to float inside. Without thinking, Chariklo reached for it, hand sinking into the mirror. When she pulled it back, the cuff was nestled snugly in her bloodied palm. While not entirely sure what it was or what it did, she knew it was important somehow. She tucked it into the bag holding her mirrorwraith shards for the moment. She could puzzle out the strange item later. Right now, she needed medical care and Bianca… Bianca needed to be seen to as well.

She could have simply dumped the body somewhere deserted, but the thought churned her stomach. She wouldn’t treat what was left of her friend in such a manner. Instead. Well. Plan B was going to hurt a whole hell of a lot.

Visibly bracing herself, she lifted Bianca and exited Mirrorspace, choosing an exit mirror near the hospital. And once she was sure that no one was around to see, she powered down. And very nearly passed out from the combined pain of her face and ankle. Setting Bianca down yet again, she fumbled for her cell phone and called 911. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to fake the tears or fright in her voice as she asked the dispatcher to send help for her and her friend. As she stayed on the phone and waited, she considered her story. She wouldn’t have to lie about being attacked by a maniac and said maniac’s pet. Really, there wasn’t a great deal she would have to lie about. They’d simply been out and attacked. A large dog had been set on her, resulting in her face being cut. The maniac had hurt her friend out of her site and tried to set her on fire. Arilee had simply managed to escape the dog and distract the maniac long enough to get herself and Bianca away. But Bianca had died.

Oh yeah, that story was going to go over real well. Chokng back another sob, Arilee sat beside the body, stroking it’s hair and singing the song that Bianca had been teaching her softly under her breath.

Close your eyes; I know what you see
the darkness is high, and you're in ten feet deep
but we've survived more terrible monsters than sleep
and you know I will be here to tell you to breathe
tu sei il mio soldatino
la ragione per cui vivo
non ti scordar di me
io veglierò su di te