----------

Seiren took a moment to register what she had been told. "You mean...you stole a Sailor Crystal, too? You helped Galaxia... destroy your planet?!"

Crow's eyes were icy. "Yes. I told you that you're not unique. And I meant it."

"B-But...how did she get to you? You seem...stronger...than me."

"No. I wasn't strong at all. Galaxia-sama taught me how...weak my heart really was." The other Senshi looked away. "She showed me that I didn't need that weak heart."

"How can you say that?!"

Crow turned around to face Seiren again, a flicker of sadness in her face. "I'll show you."

Before Seiren could protest, Crow pressed her index and middle fingers to Seiren's forehead. Had Seiren not been deathly cold herself, she would have shivered at the touch of Crow's ice-cold fingers.

"Wh-what are you doing?" She stared up at the two tanned fingers pressed against her skin.

Crow smirked. "You want to know what happened. This is my way of showing you. This is my memory."

"Can't you just show me the way you did before? Why do you have to do it this way?" Seiren was slightly nervous about having someone else's memory transplanted in her brain.

"Because I've seen it ENOUGH times!" Crow's eyes were now fiery, sharp, angry. Seiren jumped a little. "I don't...want to see...ever again." She shuddered at the memory. Galaxia-sama...you wouldn't stop it. Over and over, I saw what I had done...it hurts...

Seiren lowered her eyes. "All right. I understand. I'm...sorry."

Crow did not utter another word. She only closed her eyes, and concentrated on the tips of her fingers, touching Seiren's pale forehead. After a moment, Seiren could feel a wave of heat emanating from Crow's fingers, penetrating her body and mind. And, in that instant, she knew. Everything that had happened on the planet Coronis--everything that this girl standing before her had gone through, and done.

She began to cry.

~***~

Karasuma Akane sat quietly on a bench in a small garden, legs crossed under her long, black skirts, her dark eyes concentrated on the words in front of her. A sharp gust of wind suddenly caught her long red hair, blowing it in front of her face, and almost blasting the newspaper out of her hands. With a small cry of surprise, she jumped up and caught the paper before it flew over the garden walls.

The planet Coronis was known for its constant gusting wind. The wind whipping around the earth was a thing of beauty, but, Akane thought to herself, it wasn't above being annoying once in a while. Tucking the newspaper under her arm, she fished a black satin ribbon out of one of her pockets and wrestled her wildly-blowing hair into a ponytail. That taken care of, she settled onto the bench again and resumed reading.

The front page article of the Coronid Chronicle featured a huge color picture of Sailor Coronis standing triumphantly in front of the royal palace, her high-heeled foot resting on the back of a defeated youma. The headline, in glaringly large letters, read, "Sailor Coronis saves palace guards! Youma no match for Senshi!"

Akane smirked. "In the paper again, I see..." she said quietly to herself. She didn't seem to be reading, though--her eyes remained focused on the photo, taking it in, with an unchanging bittersweet expression.

"PRINCESS! Princess, where ARE you?"

Akane looked up from her reading as a small girl with short black hair poked her head around a tree.

She smiled. "Oh, hello, Fuu-chan."

Fuu gave her a stern look, hands on her hips. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Why is that? Did you break something in the great hall again?"

"Noooooooooo...I'm careful now! I haven't broken anything in over a week!"

"Okay, fine," Akane said with a light laugh. "Then what's the matter?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Fuu said, in an impatient tone seemingly only used by children her age. "Mama sent me to find you! You missed class AGAIN!"

Akane's eyes dropped. Fuu's mother, a strict, muscular, blunt woman by the name of Ryokuu, was her martial arts instructor. She's no doubt complaining about me to Mother this very minute. "I didn't want to go. I'm tired today."

The little girl's face fell. "Princess, don't be like that! You're a protector of this planet, too! You have to be strong!"

Akane stood up and looked away, into the heavy gray sky. "I guess you could call me that. Does it matter?"

"Of course it does! Mama says, 'Sailor Senshi need help from strong warriors!' That means you, doesn't it, Princess?" Her large green eyes stared intently at Akane's back.

"She doesn't need my help. She has never needed me. No one has." She wasn't really talking to Fuu anymore. Her voice seemed as chilly as the wind that whipped around them.

"But...Princess..."

Fuu's voice jarred her back to reality, and she turned around, smiling sweetly. "Don't worry, Fuu-chan. Go tell your mother that I'll be in class tomorrow. Okay?"

The girl seemed to brighten at Akane's words. "Okay! I'll go tell her right away!" And Fuu skipped off, leaving her alone with the wind and her thoughts.

A few moments later, a pensive and sullen Akane slipped out of the garden.

~***~

As she entered the palace through a side door, near a spiral staircase, Akane slipped off her shoes, and padded quietly up the stairs and down the hallway. She found that the the clicking of her heels on the marble floor attracted attention that, most of the time, she would rather avoid.

She finally reached the top of the stairs, and was ready to make a beeline for her bedroom door, when she heard a heard a loud voice calling her from below. Fighting her desire to take off running the other way, she turned around to see Shiromi bounding up the stairs.

"Aka! Hi!" Shiromi said, panting, as she reached the top. She was wearing a black tank top and black jogging shorts, contrasting greatly with her bright white hair, which bobbed up and down on her head in a thick ponytail. Her skin was a deep tan, like Akane's. In fact, if they had shared the same hair color, the two would look exactly alike.

Akane seemed acutely aware of this, and obviously did not like it at all. "Oh. Onee-sama. Hi."

"Wanna come jogging with me? Nothing like running through the wind, on a great day like this!" She grinned enthusiastically and wiped some sweat from her brow.

"No, I'd rather not. You go ahead."

"Come on, Aka! You shouldn't be inside all the time, you know!"

"I was outside."

"Well, you're still not active enough! Sitting under a tree and reading is not good exercise!"

"I'd just like to have some time in peace and quiet. Is that okay with you?"

Shiromi let out a long sigh and shrugged. "Oh, Aka, you're so gloomy. Fine, go sit in your room. I'll be around, if you want to join me." With one last pleading glance at her sister, she turned around and bounced down the stairs.

Now more eager than ever to be alone, Akane practically ran into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Glancing out the window, she spotted her sister, jogging in place, chatting with her mother. The spitting image of her daughters, but sharing Shiromi's white locks, the Queen of Coronis had a soft and caring face, which lifted in a light laugh at something her daughter had just said. Shiromi waved cheerfully at Akane, and Akane, in turn, hastily drew the curtains, shutting out the image of her family and shrouding the room in darkness.

In the courtyard, Shiromi frowned at her mother. "Mama...is Aka...okay? I hate it when she sits in her bedroom like that, all by herself."

The Queen stroked her daughter's hair, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry about Akane. She's just not the outgoing type, like you are."

"Maybe you're right...I've been trying to get her to come out with me"--she glanced wistfully at Akane's bedroom window--"but she just stays up there. Oh well."

After pecking her mother briefly on the cheek, Shiromi jogged away, cheerful but worried about her sister. The Queen stood alone in the courtyard. She thought of Akane, isolating herself in a dark room, refusing to spend time with her sister, and, according to Ryokuu, missing her classes as well. For some reason, she suddenly felt a terrible chill. What has gone wrong with her? As if in answer to her own question, a thought popped into her head.

"I wonder...is she watching it again?"

~***~

"Onee-sama...athletic airhead."

Akane, now blissfully alone in her dark bedroom, pulled a small disk out of her dresser, and fed it into a player near her television. One could say it was her favorite film, because she watched it nearly every day, but that wasn't the case at all. This movie had become an obsession of sorts for Akane, and she would have been the first to admit how unhealthy it was. Despite this, she sat forward on her bed as the film lit up her screen.

The first to appear onscreen was her mother, lying in a hospital bed, and very, very pregnant. Various aides and advisers of the Queen massed in front of the camera, all giving her advice and best wishes. She was normally a very patient person, but it was unsurprising that she screamed at all of them to leave.

Next to the Queen's bed, a man in a black suit, with slicked-back black hair, appeared and spoke in hushed tones. "You are about to witness a first in Coronis' great history...the birth of twin princesses! Twin Sailor Senshi!" He turned to the Queen, who was panting furiously on the bed. "We'd like to thank Her Highness for this opportunity--"

"Get...OUT," she hissed.

The narrator scurried out of the room, leaving the Queen with her doctor and, apparently, the silent cameraman.

The delivery of the babies took many, many hours, but the documentary cut through this with segues to interesting stories of the history of Coronis' Sailor Senshi, in her many incarnations. The last showed that same Queen, looking youthfully exuberant in her Senshi fuku as she used her wind magic to slice away at an ugly, reptilian youma. Akane watched this part with renewed chagrin.

"Mother's finest hour."

Finally, the Senshi flashbacks stopped, and the scene was once again set in the delivery room. The Queen was groaning from the strain and pain of labor, as her doctor shouted encouragement to her. The people who had been shooed out of the room, including the narrator, watched in silent wonder through a nearby window.

Suddenly, the Queen screamed shrilly, and a strong burst of white light filled the room, and everyone shielded their eyes. When the light died down, a tiny baby girl was in the doctor's hands, wriggling and crying. Amazingly, she already had a shock of white hair, the same bright color as the strange light. The symbol of the planet Coronis, a shining white feather, glowed brilliantly on her forehead.

A young, muscular woman with a bright red face and wavy red hair rushed into the room immediately. "My Queen! Isn't it wonderful! Your daughter!"

The Queen, now holding her baby, smiled through her sweat and tears. "She is beautiful, isn't she, Ryokuu? What a lovely... light she has."

Akane smirked in the darkness. "Yes. A Sailor Senshi's light. It is beautiful."

But the Queen was still straining and pushing--another daughter was on her way. Everyone watching held their breath, except the narrator, who had pushed his way back into the room. "Could it really be, ladies and gentlemen? Another princess? Another Sailor Senshi? This is history in the making, right now."

Ryokuu threw him bodily out of the room.

After a few moments, the Queen's shouts of pain died down, and were replaced with the sound of another crying baby, but there was no second flash of blinding light. The doctor, and everyone else, looked perplexed.

The doctor was now holding another tiny newborn girl, but this one had a light mane of rusty red hair. No symbol shone from her forehead.

Ryokuu's mouth was hanging open. "Your Highness...is she...?"

The Queen held the small, red-haired girl in her arms. "No...I don't think she is, Ryokuu. Look at her hair...and...this one didn't...feel the same way."

The narrator had somehow once again entered the room, and was trying to talk over the whispered babble of others now around him. "This is a strange sight, indeed, fellow Coronids...the Queen's second daughter does not, it seems, carry the Senshi bloodline. All Sailor Senshi of this planet, and only Senshi, have had white hair, as the first daughter and her mother do...yet the second girl has normal red hair...is this a sign? What has gone wrong?"

Akane could no longer conceal her bitter disgust. She glared at the screen, at herself and her sister, side by side in a white crib, next to their mother's bed.

"Look at me...look at her...a shadow in her light." She shook her head. "I've always been a shadow."

A knock on the door startled Akane, and Shiromi bounded into the room. "Aka, you really shouldn't sit in the dark like this! It's not good for your eyes!" She flipped a switch and flooded the room in light. "There!"

"Go away, Onee-sama." She was squinting, but managed to narrow her eyes a little more at her sister. "I'm busy."

"WOW! What are you watching, Aka?!" Shiromi was staring with rapt fascination at the screen.

"It's nothing. Now leave. Please."

Shiromi smiled giddily at her newborn self. "We were both so cute! Look how little we were! I wonder why you were crying, though..."

True enough, on the screen, Shiromi was gurgling happily and stretching out under her blanket, while Akane tried to tug a bit of the blanket away, and was still crying loudly. Akane bit her lip, staring at her younger, wailing self. Did I realize, even then, what kind of life I had been born into?

"ONEE-SAMA! Please leave me ALONE!" She jumped forward and shoved Shiromi toward the door. "I just want to be by myself."

Shiromi frowned. "I'm really sorry, Aka...I didn't mean to upset you." Her eyes were apologetic. "See you at dinner, all right?"

Akane grunted and slammed the door. She stared a little longer at the babies, now in their mother's arms, on the screen. What a life this is. With a heaving sigh, she turned it off.

Shiromi walked slowly toward the stairs. "Aka's mad at me...I wonder why."

"What's that, dear?"

The Queen was just about to enter her quarters, but stopped in the doorway and approached Shiromi. "Akane is upset?"

"I think I said something that made her mad. She threw me out of her room."

The Queen's face clouded with concern. "Is that so? What was she doing when you came in?"

Shiromi scratched her head. "Now that you mention it, Mama, she was watching this weird thing on her TV. It was a movie with me and her as babies! Odd, huh?"

"Yes. Very odd...Shiromi, I'll see you at dinner. I'm going to go talk to her."

Before Shiromi could utter a word of protest, her mother had set off down the hall.

~***~

Akane heard her mother's low voice from the hall. "Akane, may I come in? I'd like to talk to you."

She sighed, defeated in her quest for solitude. "Sure. Come in."

The Queen immediately swept into the room and sat her daughter down, letting her arm fall around the young woman's shoulders. "Akane...what has been bothering you? Shiromi told me you were quite aggravated with her."

"I was. She wouldn't get out of my room."

"May I ask...why you've been watching that documentary, Akane?"

She looked away. "I..."

"Dear, you don't need to explain. I know what you see, when you watch that film. It hurts you, doesn't it?"

Akane shed a single tear, and leaned into her mother's embrace. "Yes...why me, Mother? Why did that happen to me? Why am I seen as a 'bad sign'?"

The Queen sighed. "I don't know. I have no idea why such a thing would happen...or why those things are said. And I don't care, Akane."

She blinked. "Mother...?"

"Akane, you and Shiromi are my daughters. And I love you both...dearly. More than I can tell you. It does not matter to me if one of you is a Sailor Senshi, and one of you is not. Coronis has a Senshi protector...and I have two beautiful daughters that I love with all of my heart. Beyond that, nothing else matters."

"Mother, do you really mean that?"

"Of course, my dear. Shiromi was chosen to be a Sailor Senshi, and I think that is wonderful. But I think no less of you for lacking that Sailor Crystal. I love you, no matter what. You must remember that, Akane. Do not let this get to you."

"This is my fault, I know," the Queen continued. "I should had this talk with you about this sooner. I should have seen how all this would...affect you, Akane. I could have helped you avoid this bitterness you've had pent up in your heart...I apologize."

Akane showed a rare smile. "Mother...thank you. I think you're right. Maybe it doesn't matter..."

"That's better," the Queen said, returning the smile. "Now, let's go eat dinner."

After Akane changed, she and her mother walked arm in arm out of the room, and down to the dining hall.

~***~

As Akane and the Queen entered the room, they noticed that Shiromi was already there, now changed into a white gown, identical to the black one Akane wore. They also noticed Ryokuu sitting across from her, wearing her usual severe expression. She bolted up from her chair at the sound of the Queen's footsteps, and stood at full attention.

"Your Majesty," she panted, "Her Majesty Princess Shiromi granted me the pleasure of dining with you this evening."

"Yes, that's fine, Ryokuu," the Queen replied, and gently pushed the woman back into her chair. Akane passed by the muscular woman on her way to her seat, and the two exchanged distasteful glances.

They ate in relative silence, but Shiromi noticed that Akane was different. When she wasn't eating or sipping from her glass, she seemed to wear a secretive smile, and she looked much happier. Shiromi grinned.

"Hey, Aka...everything's okay, right? You're not mad at me anymore?"

Akane smiled sweetly at her sister. "Of course not, Onee-sama. I'm sorry I was so rude earlier." I have been terrible to her, she thought remorsefully. Now she and I can start fresh. Mother was right.

Ryokuu finally spoke up. "So, I see you were in the paper today, Princess. What was that maneuver you used on the youma?" She was gushing with pride.

Shiromi blushed. "It was the Feathered Dragon Kick, Ryokuu-sensei," she said, smiling. "Thank you for teaching it to me. It turned out to be very useful."

"That's why it's so important to attend your martial arts classes, Princess," she said, scowling sidelong at Akane. "But I'm sure you know that."

Akane set down her fork slowly, and set a calm gaze on Ryokuu. "I apologize for my absence, sensei. I assure you that it will not happen again."

Their teacher was clearly put off by Akane's sudden politeness. "Well, erm, yes, see that it doesn't, Princess." She muttered something quietly under her breath, and Akane immediately called her on it.

"What was that, sensei? We couldn't quite hear you."

The Queen was watching this exchange intently.

With a flash of defiance, Ryokuu cleared her throat. "I said, Princess, that it would be a shame for the royal responsibilities to fall into...less than capable hands." She smirked. "Not that it matters. You are less than capable, no matter how much jujitsu you know."

The Queen stood up, showing rare, and hot, emotion. "Ryokuu! How dare you speak to my daughter that way!"

"No, Mother, forget it." Akane pushed away from the table, and stood. "She's right, you know." Tears streamed down her tan face.

"Aka...?" Shiromi looked near to tears, herself. She was extremely sensitive to others arguing, especially her sister.

Akane was shaking, and her voice was steadily growing louder. "Mother...maybe you're right. Maybe you don't care. Maybe it doesn't matter. But people like her"--her wavering finger was pointed squarely at Ryokuu--"do care. They see me as dangerous. A person in power who shouldn't be. Isn't that right, sensei?"

Ryokuu didn't dare speak.

"The truth is, I don't belong with the likes of you...Mother...Onee-sama. I'm not worthy. I don't have that light." She walked away, with a mumbled "Excuse me" hanging in the air behind her.

Ryokuu bowed deeply to the Queen and Shiromi, and left through another door. "Impertinent brat."

Shiromi and her mother remained in the dining hall, neither one knowing what to say.

~***~

Akane threw herself into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her, locking it. Her tears were flowing freely now, and she slumped against the door, crying into her hands.

"That bitch...that horrible BITCH!" she screamed into the dark, still air of her room.

Who am I kidding...maybe she has a right to say those things...maybe I am dangerous...

Only those with power are dangerous, and you have none. You know this.

So I don't have power...does that make me less of a person? DOES IT?!

Perhaps. But if you acquired power...

Akane suddenly realized that there was more than one voice in her head. She blinked. I'm losing it...

No, you are simply becoming more aware of your situation, Akane. Such a rarity...a Senshi with a sibling. You have no idea how unique you are.

For no good reason, she spoke aloud. "Where are you? Who are you?"

The voice, to Akane's great surprise, replied aloud as well. "I am someone who can help you, Akane. And I am right here, if you want me to be."

"Help me? Help me how?"

"I can help you get what you desire. I can help you claim your birthright."

She snorted. "What is this, some kind of prank? What do you know about my birthright, whoever you are?"

The voice grew arrogant, more confident, almost mocking. "It hurts, doesn't it? It hurts when you hear what they say about you. 'She is unfit to be a Princess!' 'She is the sign of our planet's demise!' 'What would we do, if something happened to the Queen and Sailor Coronis...?'"

"SHUT UP!!!" The voice's words struck a nerve. She now stood, panting with anger and despair. "JUST SHUT UP!!!"

"You know I'm right, Akane. But I can help you."

Akane paused, and brushed some strewn hair away from her face. "H-how? What could you possibly do for me?" A small piece of her knew how crazy this was--she was having a conversation with a disembodied voice. What would Ryokuu say to that? Her jaw clenched in anger at the thought.

"I can give you that power you desire. That light. A Sailor Senshi's power, Akane. Think of it."

"LIAR! How could you possibly do that?!"

The cool darkness of Akane's bedroom was pierced with a beautiful, golden light, and when Akane opened her eyes, a Sailor Senshi in golden armor, her hair tied in a warrior's knot, floated in the still air.

"I am the most powerful Senshi in this galaxy, Sailor Galaxia!" the Senshi said. "I can do anything for you...if you agree to help me."

"How? What can I do?" Her voice was pleading, desperate, believing. "If you can give me power, tell me what to do!"

Galaxia opened her mouth to respond, but cut herself off. In the hallway she could hear a number of voices, all urgently growing louder outside the door.

"You shall see, dear girl," Galaxia said quietly, and faded away. "I shall return to you..."

"Come back! Sailor Galaxia, please come back..." She fell onto her bed, and cried. She's gone...and maybe I'll never know what she meant...

She heard her mother's and Shiromi's voices outside. "Aka! Aka, what was that noise? Aka, are you okay in there?! Answer me, Aka!"

Sighing deeply, she wiped the tears from her face and opened her door. Shiromi tackled her and planted countless kisses on her face. "Oh Aka, I was so scared, don't ever do that again, Aka..."

"Get off, Onee-sama, I'm fine."

The Queen looked relieved, and Shiromi burst into tears. "I'm so sorry Ryokuu-sensei said those things to you...Aka, I feel so bad..."

"It's okay. Really." She felt her mother embrace her, and, standing in a tight hug with her family, she couldn't help but think about that woman again. Mother...Onee-sama...what use am I to you, to anyone, being powerless like this? I hate it...

Please, Galaxia...come back and help me...

~***~

A few weeks passed. Akane had been reassured again and again by her mother that she was loved, unconditionally. And Ryokuu, reluctantly but humbly--and in front of the Queen--had apologized to Akane for her tactless words. It seemed that things were returning to normal, and Akane thought less and less of the Sailor Senshi she had seen that night, but the image of the Golden Queen continued to haunt a small part of her mind. And she was happier--she got along slightly better with Shiromi, and only felt a slight twinge of bitterness at seeing her picture in the papers, instead of the waves of it she had felt before. Life in Coronis' royal palace was good for her, and she thought she could manage just fine the way things were.

Then the voice came back.

It began quietly, as Akane was walking through the garden, on a beautifully clear and windless day. Akane...I've returned, Akane... But the voice grew louder and more demanding, outraged by Akane's resolve to ignore it.

I don't care anymore. Leave me alone.

Don't you desire the power of a Sailor Senshi?

Maybe.

Then why do you push me away, Akane?

Because I've decided not to worry about it anymore. Is that okay with you?

When the time comes, you will come to me again, Akane...

And then the voice faded away. Akane sighed with relief at its absence. But as she neared the palace entrance, she heard thunder rumble, low and growling, in the distance.

She frowned thoughtfully. "Funny...it was so nice, just a few minutes ago..." Pushing the thought out of her mind, she walked inside, and to the throne room.

The Queen was perched on the throne, with Shiromi leaning against it. Both of them wore looks of dire concern.

Akane strode toward them. "Odd weather, isn't it, Mother, Onee-sama? Those clouds approached so quickly..."

Neither of them answered. Shiromi's eyes were distant, but they seemed very focused at the same time. As if she was watching something that wasn't there.

"Onee-sama..." Akane breathed, her face pinched with worry. "What's wrong with her, Mother?"

She began to shake. "Evil...evil...Mama! I feel it!"

The Queen jumped. "You do?"

"Yes. It's coming...!" Shakily, she stood up and faced her mother. "Mama, this might be a hard fight. Do you...think I'm ready?"

"Of course. We all believe in you, my child." Akane quietly nodded her agreement, but she still looked worried.

Shiromi smiled with relief. "Well, if you believe in me, then that's all I need!" She paused for a moment, to gather her strength, before throwing her hand to the air. "Coronis Star Power Make UP!"

Akane felt a blast of wind, and then her sister was Sailor Coronis, shining in her white, feathery Sailor fuku.

"Wish me luck, Mama, Aka...I love you."

The Queen rushed forward and smothered the Senshi in a hug. "We love you, too. See you soon."

Akane stood fixed to the ground, unable to walk forward and embrace her sister. I can't just hug her and see her off... she thought. I feel so helpless!

Before she could move or speak, Sailor Coronis was already gone. The door swung creakily on its hinge, and ceaselessly banged against the wall--the wind refuse to let it close.

Akane roused herself. I can't let her go without saying goodbye. What if something happened? The Queen's protests fell on deaf ears as Akane rushed out the door.

"ONEE-SAMA! WAIT!"

Her own words were the last things she heard, as a searing bolt of lightning struck twenty feet in front of her. Sailor Coronis fell limply to the ground, her skin and fuku blackened and charred from the strike.

"Aka...get out of here...it's not...safe..."

"Onee-sama...oh God..." Akane stood in numb shock, and suddenly remembered Galaxia's words. When the time comes, you will come to me again, Akane...

The words tumbled freely from her lips--she had no time to think of what she was saying. She dropped to her knees and clasped her hands.

"Galaxia! Galaxia, if you can hear me, please help me! I need that power! PLEASE!"

On the brink of passing out, Coronis heard the name. She narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Galaxia...Sailor...Galaxia...I've...heard that...before...who..."

"Finally, Akane! You have realized how much you need me! And," the voice said in a sinister growl, "not a moment too soon."

Galaxia's form shimmered into reality in between Akane and Coronis. "Here I am. Now...what do you desire, Akane?"

"PLEASE! I need power! Give me power...like Onee-sama's!" She was crying desperately. "I have to do something!"

"Of course. I shall give you immense power. Are you ready, then?"

Sailor Coronis raised her head feebly, and took in the golden Sailor Senshi before her. "...Aka...don't do it..."

But Akane didn't hear her. She lowered her head and murmured, "Yes. I am ready."

"Then say the words, and your wish shall be granted."

"Aka, please...no..."

Akane closed her eyes and shouted them. "GIVE ME THE POWER!"

The Queen reached the doorway just in time to see the brilliant flash of golden light, and to hear Akane's piercing scream.

~***~

"AKA!" Sailor Coronis screamed. She struggled to her feet. "AKA! What did you do to her?!"

Akane had slumped to the ground, and was lying lifeless, but with blank, open eyes, at Galaxia's feet. The armored Senshi grinned, as she held Akane's faded Star Seed in her hand.

"I granted her wish. This is the way she will receive power. But I refrained from telling her what great power it would be. You see, Sailor Coronis...she wanted power like yours. But I am giving her something even better."

Her grin widened.

"Your power."

"You cannot do that, you devil!" The Queen was now standing in between Coronis and Galaxia. "I will not let you have your way with my daughters!"

Galaxia laughed. "Ah, the Queen! Do not worry. Your daughter will be revived soon enough." She looked down at Akane's dead form. "Servant! Karasuma Akane, receive my power!"

Akane's dead body snapped to attention--causing Coronis to cry out in horror and surprise--and she held out her wrists to the woman before her. Another brilliant golden light passed from Galaxia to Akane, and when it faded, two golden, jeweled bracelets adorned the girl's wrists.

"Well, Akane," Galaxia said, "are you ready for your Sailor Crystal?"

"Yes, Galaxia-sama."

Her mother was horrified. "Akane...my Akane...what are you saying...?"

Galaxia deftly knocked the Queen out of the way. "She is loyal to me, now. Not to you, or anyone else on this doomed planet." "MAMA!" Coronis cried, and limped toward her mother, but the Queen waved her away.

"Fight her, Shiromi. Save your sister...don't worry about me..." And the Queen's head lolled back, as she fell into unconsciousness.

Furious, Coronis turned. "You've hurt Aka...and Mama...and you want to hurt this planet! I'm not going to let it happen!" She raised her hands to the sky. "Coronis TORNADO!"

At the Senshi's command, strong gusts of white wind surrounded Galaxia and cut at her armor. When the wind died, she was untouched. Coronis gasped.

"Is that the best you can do? I had hoped for a more interesting struggle."

Coronis scowled with blind hatred at Galaxia, and raised her pointed finger as high as she could. "Coronis Feather WIND!"

Out of the clouds, an ethereal white crow blasted toward the ground and its target, cawing and screeching. Galaxia raised her free hand, and swiftly blocked the attack. "I'm done fooling around, Sailor Coronis," she said with a sneer. "Servant! Get her Sailor Crystal."

"As you wish, Galaxia-sama," Akane replied in a monotone, and stepped forward, toward her sister.

"Aka...Aka, what are you doing?! Listen to me, please!"

"She can't hear you. Her mind blocks everything but my commands. It's too late to reason with her."

"Aka...I'm your sister...your Onee-sama...please don't do this..."

Akane's bracelets flashed, before releasing their golden spheres of light.

"I...love...you...Aka..."

A shrill, frightened scream, and then, Sailor Coronis fell to the ground alongside her mother, fading away while a blindingly white Sailor Crystal floated above her chest.

~***~

"Your Majesty...my Queen...please, wake up..."

"Mama...she's opening her eyes! Look!"

The Queen opened her eyes and saw two people standing over her. She rubbed her eyes and saw that it was Ryokuu, and Fuu, her daughter. They were in a dark room, and the Queen saw gardening tools in the corner.

"Ryokuu? Fuu-chan? What's happening? What am I doing in the shed? Where...where are Akane and Shiromi?!"

"I saw it all, your Majesty," Fuu said, sniffling. "Princess Akane...that awful lady made her k-k-kill Princess Shiromi..." she broke down and started sobbing into her mother's chest.

The Queen gasped. "Akane..."

"There, there, Fuu." Ryokuu held her wailing daughter and turned to the Queen. "According to my daughter, your Highness, that woman--Galaxia--took Princess Shiromi's Sailor Crystal and used it to...to..."

"She turned Princess Akane into a Sailor Senshi," Fuu finished. "But a...a bad one. An evil one."

"My Queen, people are dying out there. Your daughter is killing them. She is calling herself...Sailor Lead Crow." Ryokuu scowled in contempt. "We have to stop her."

After leaving Fuu in the shed, the Queen and Ryokuu walked back into the garden, where Lead Crow had apparently returned, waiting for them. They could see heaps of dead guards near the gates, all with blacked-out Star Seeds floating above their heads. Crow saw the two and grinned.

"What do you think of me now, sensei?" she growled. "Does this all strike you as less than capable?"

Ryokuu was furious. "You devil! You hateful...vile...thing! What have you done?!"

Ryokuu crouched into an attack position, but the Queen held up a hand, and she stopped, nearly foaming at the mouth with anger.

"Akane!" the Queen cried out. "Akane, listen to me! Please stop what you're doing, Akane!"

"I'm not Akane!" she snapped coldly. "I am Sailor Lead Crow! I'm the Sailor Senshi that everyone always wanted me to be!"

"Akane, I don't want you to be a Senshi! I love you the way you are!" The Queen pleaded with her eyes. "Please believe me!"

"Does it matter, Mother? You may not care, but everyone else does! No one wanted me to be myself...I was judged by my power...or my lack of it. You can never understand that!"

"Princess, don't say that! You're WRONG!"

Fuu was running toward them, with tears in her large eyes. "Please, stop this! Everyone is sorry that they hurt you! We just want you back, Princess! I want you back!"

Crow hesitated, and a shine seemed to drift back into her eyes. "Fuu-chan...I...I..."

"Akane, she's right!" the Queen shouted, seizing the moment. "Come back to me!"

"Mother..."

Crow drifted gently to the ground, her black wings fluttering in the now-gentle breeze, and walked into her mother's embrace. "Mother...I...I'm...scared..."

"How dare you resist my control, Lead Crow!" Galaxia's voice boomed in the air, as she reappeared above them. "You are my servant now!" She blasted Crow with a bolt of golden energy from her bracelets, and the winged Senshi screamed, recoiling from the Queen's touch.

"Princess!" Fuu screamed.

Crow's limp body floated back into the sky, and appeared to be growing stronger as it rose. After a moment, she lifted her head. The shine was gone--her eyes were again as black as her wings.

"Galaxia-sama is right...I am her servant now," she muttered. "So nothing you say matters...at all."

The Queen wailed desperately. "Akane, NO!" Behind her, Ryokuu, her anger faded to terror, clutched her screaming daughter tightly. Crow's voice boomed. "She's right...you are right, Galaxia-sama! All that is left is to claim this world for you!"

Ryokuu's head dropped in defeat. "It's over...I'm sorry, my Queen."

"So am I, Ryokuu." She closed her eyes.

"Galactica TORNADO!"

~***~

Seiren looked up, with a new consciousness, a new understanding of this Senshi standing with her. "That...was..."

"Do you understand now, Seiren? What Galaxia-sama is capable of?" Her hand was tightened in a fist. "She can make you do the most...horrible...things..."

Crow was very surprised when, at that moment, Seiren threw her arms around her.

"I'm very sorry, Crow-san," she said quietly. "That must have been very hard for you."

~***~