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When looking back on that night, Valhalla would not remember the summer heat, nor would he remember the crackling of lightning from a storm in the distance, drawing ever near. He would not remember how the park smelled of freshly cut grass, or remember the casings of used fireworks that littered the ground from the festivities the night before. There was a gentle breeze that rustled the leaves, and fireflies that lit up the growing darkness, and the Star of Bethlehem continuing on in their celestial orbit. For Venus and Jupiter to align so closely… it would be another two thousand years before it happened again.

Instead, he would remember how his heart tensed and stopped in his chest, how his hand gripped tightly to Ganymede’s as they were plunged into an aura so dark and full of chaos, they had only experienced it a couple times before. He knew who it was without needing to see her, yet her silhouette was pristine against the backdrop of the city lights just down the grassy hill.

Laurelite.

There was no point in trying to talk to her, even he knew that. She had tried to kill Ganymede before, had corrupted that young squire before their very eyes without any chance at stopping her. She was dangerous and unless they were able to stop her, she would continue killing and corrupting. “Kyrie,” he choked out, his voice quiet and desperate as he gripped tightly to his companion’s home with his freed hand. Her form burst forth, a sight he was sure Laurelite remembered from the time Valkyrie had attacked her before, the time Ganymede had repelled her attempt at corrupting her.

Valkyrie took to the sky, keeping low as there were too many branches in the way for her to remain on target if she were to rise any higher.

Laurelite disliked when she became too familiar with a senshi. It meant they had given her much hassle and grief and ought to have been eliminated. She turned towards the voice, displeased to recognize that one.

The one that should have been hers.

No longer did she crave to corrupt the pretty little senshi, only to destroy her.

Perhaps tonight she would have her chance.

Judging by the energy signatures and the location of Ganymede's voice, Laurelite teleported to cross the distance between them.

"Is this a good enough view for you?" she asked, only inches from the senshi's face. She didn't even bother to try and summon her weapon yet; instead, she quickly assessed her opponents—only this one and the knight she was always with.

…The Knight she was always with.

Perhaps Laurelite would need to change her tactics.

She pulled her arm back and swung it at Ganymede; despite Laurelite's tiny frame, she still possessed all the strength of a General Queen. With her other hand, she gripped Valhalla firmly on the shoulder to hold him in place. "And what about you? Are you enjoying the view? But I don't suppose you both came out just to look. If you had the gall to call out to me, you must have wanted something."

She looked towards Ganymede and then back to Valhalla before spitting out, "So what is it? Because if it's death you're after, I am more than happy to oblige."

She paused for a moment, hand resting over Valhalla's chest. "…Well. Maybe not for this one. I sort of like him. I'm sure I can think of something else to do with him. But you," her eyes narrowed at Ganymede once more. "You can sit there and watch, and perhaps when I'm done making him mind you can grovel at me feet before I kill you."

Ganymede released an audible gasp when Laurelite appeared so close to her, taking an automatic step back to place some distance between them, but of course it wasn't enough. Laurelite was too close, too fast, too strong. There was no way Ganymede would be able to defeat her on her own.

But she wasn't on her own. She had Valhalla with her. And with Valhalla—for Valhalla—she could do anything.

She was unprepared to be shoved to the side, but grateful for it as it meant she avoided Laurelite's arm. Stumbling, Ganymede collided with the ground and had the breath knocked out of her, and no time to regain her bearings before Valhalla was calling for Valkyrie again. There was a blinding flash of light, the smell of smoke and burning flesh. The sound Valhalla made as the lightning struck was horrifying.

“VALHALLA!”

He was hurting himself. Luarelite still had him by the shoulder. She was far too dangerous. What had she been thinking calling out to her like that? Laurelite had corrupted a Squire right in front of them in a matter of seconds. It would only take that long for her to do any number of things to them.

They couldn't let her. They had to buy themselves enough time to get away.

“Kyrie, stop!!” Ganymede cried, though she was unsure if the bird would listen. Whether Kyrie did or not, Ganymede climbed back onto her feet and aimed for Laurelite. “Searing Passion!”

He could hear Ganymede yelling for Valkyrie to stop as the electricity continued through them. She seemed to relent at Ganymede’s request, for he was able to come back to his sense just in time to hear Ganymede’s attack called, and felt Laurelite jerk him between them.

She moved too fast for him to even realize what she was doing, and by the time he did… it was too late. Valhalla drew in a gasp as a strange sensation suddenly overcame him, and he tried to push Laurelite away as he turned to stare at Ganymede in desperation, silently pleading with her to run. This wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know Laurelite would react so quickly.

But she wouldn’t be able to use her magic again, and that worried him more than her attack itself. He could feel the heat as it slowly built inside him, and he clenched his teeth tightly together in anticipation of the pain he knew would come. Valhalla had witnessed Ganymede’s magic on many others before. Had seen grown men cry out in pain. Saw how it enraged others and made them more volatile, more dangerous… but always weakened. They were never much for fighting after taking an attack from her.

If she tried using her magic on Laurelite again… even if she managed to hit her, Valhalla did not think he would have the strength to get Ganymede out of there on his own. She might not be as exhausted as she had been not long ago when her energy had been taken on top of her attack being used twice, but she would still be too weakened to defend herself.

The fire roared to life inside him, and Valhalla tried his damnedest to fight back the strangled cry that escaped his throat as he was brought to his knees, his arms crossed over his chest as though to try and smother the flames that would eventually burn out on their own. Worse than getting electrocuted by his own companion was the fire that burned invisible to all, but still felt as though it would kill him. He knew it wouldn’t, but they needed help.

He tried lifting his head to call for Valkyrie again, but as he looked up he saw Laurelite already preparing to attack. Not him, not Ganymede, but Kyrie herself. Valhalla watched in horror as the scythe was hurled at the eagle and struck its target. Kyrie let out a final screech as her ghostly form broke apart and faded into nothing.

Laurelite wished that the second the bird disappeared from her line of sight, all the pains it had given her would disappear as well. The residual shock from the electricity wasn't as bad as the direct flow if it, but this was something she would need more than just a few seconds to shake off.

But, there. There was sweet, precious Ganymede, begging her to leave the Knight alone.

And Laurelite's smile darkened.

"Why?" she asked coyly. "I've already won."

The throbbing of electricity suddenly meant nothing. The energy she'd wasted fending it off meant nothing.

All that mattered was Valhalla's prone body between Ganymede and her.

A Knight and an Eternal Senshi? Against a General Queen?

How did they stand a chance against her?

Laurelite did not look at Valhalla; she only kept her gaze locked with Ganymede.

And she plunged her hand straight into the Knight's chest.

Laurelite's hand went into Valhala's chest and everything went silent.

Ganymede could no longer hear the sounds of the wind through the trees, or the low rumble of thunder in the distance. She couldn't hear the chirping of the night bugs or the squawking frogs in the pond yards behind her. She couldn't hear the words Laurelite spoke, or the way Valhalla cried. She couldn't even hear herself screaming, but knew that she must be because her mouth was open and her throat felt raw from the effort. All Ganymede could hear was the sound of her blood pumping in her ears.

Thump-thump... thump-thump... thump-thump...

Her eyes swiveled around the scene too fast. She saw the trees and the grass, and the silver-white moon peaking through a part in the clouds above. But she didn't see anything or anyone who could help them, didn't feel anything on the edges of her senses that might alert her to the arrival of another powerful enough to force Laurelite back. They were in this alone, as they'd been from the beginning.

There wasn't anyone who could save Valhalla but her.

Ganymede took a few shallow breaths. They sounded like short gasps in ears muffled silent.

She could use her attack again, but what good would it do? Laurelite would simply place Valhalla between them again. It would be another wasted effort, and then Ganymede would be completely helpless, entirely at Laurelite's mercy. But wasn't she already at Laurelite's mercy? The General-Queen had her hand in Valhalla's chest, her fingers around his starseed, pumping Chaos and darkness into him to blot out the light.

And Valhalla would be gone. Everything that they'd been through would be meaningless; everything they'd built together would disintegrate into nothing. Valhalla would be gone and Ganymede would have nothing left—just an empty space where Valhalla should be, and a broken heart beyond all hope of healing.

No. No, she couldn't let that happen. Laurelite was powerful but... but so was Ganymede. She'd grown. She wasn't a scared little girl anymore. She didn't feel the need to run anymore—not from the war, not from Laurelite, not from anything. Valhalla had given her that. More than anyone else, Valhalla had given her strength and security.

Ganymede reached deep inside of herself, searching for every last ounce of power at her disposal. She grabbed onto it, clutched tight to it, and brought it forward in a bright, blinding flash of light. Something within her unraveled and unfolded; she felt the explosion in a short burst of air, in the warmth that swept through her veins.

Above, the clouds parted to reveal the bright, shining flecks of light that were Venus and Jupiter aligned in the night sky. And there, bathed in moonlight, dripping in silver and diamonds, Ganymede stood ready to face the battle as she never had before.

Through the pain, Valhalla could feel something warm and bright from where Ganymede stood. He couldn’t see her for his eyes were squeezed shut against the pain, but he knew she was there, now with more power than ever before. She’d found it within herself, where it had always been, he knew.

Laurelite suddenly released her hold and Valhalla drew in a gasp and, already on his knees, reached out to catch himself with his hands as he fell forward. But even with the chaos no longer being pumped into him, it did not take long for him to realize something was wrong.

He should have started feeling better immediately, right? Instead, his chest ached as though Laurelite was still attempting to corrupt him, his blood burning cold, his head spinning, vision blurred, senses impaired. And darkness. Darkness that not only clouded his vision and surrounded him, but he could see, and perhaps feel, his armor starting to tarnish and the green of his tunic losing its saturation and turning black in spots, slowly spreading like drops of ink soaking into fabric.

“G-Ganymede!” he choked out in desperation, not knowing what else to do as renewed panic washed over him. Laurelite releasing him should have been enough to stop this, so why was chaos still overtaking him? No, he couldn’t be corrupted! He refused! He would rather die than fall into the hands of the Negaverse! He would not be used to harm the people he cared for, to hurt the innocent, to bring darkness to the world!

Valhalla crumpled further onto the ground, hands digging desperately at his chest, struggling to unhook the buckles in the way, and ripping away the tarnishing breastplate as if he could reach into his own chest to stop the corruption. Ganymede…! Hot tears fell from the pain and anger and fear he felt as he tried to remove the darkened metal from his arms and legs, but the leather and clothing underneath already had the beginnings of being stained black. He felt like he was drowning in fire and ice, unable to breathe, unable to think.

Laurelite's eyes gleamed and her smile, so forced that the facade was breaking, looked more maniacal than it had ever before.

Let the Princess aim her kicks; the General Queen had the advantage of durability and speed. She sidestepped the kick and raised up a booted heel and shoved it towards Ganymede's stomach.

"Better hurry, Princess. Your time is running short. His time is running short."

She unclenched and reclenched her hands around the hilt of her scythe, using it to keep herself balanced as she prepared to swing it again at the princess. The distance between them wasn't so significant, but there was a bit of space.

It wasn't going to be enough to keep Ganymede safe; Laurelite had already decided that she'd see that dress red.