In Articulo Mortis, luna

[Avetea Kaiz]

She was still struggling as Artemis tried to restrain her, her own fit so loud that she almost didn't hear as he murmured into her ear, barely audible, so their overlord wouldn't hear. She stopped, her body suddenly limp, as what he had to say sank in.

Her gaze met Selenity's, and the queen leveled a cold glare at her. "Consider yourself lucky that I don't have you locked up on the spot." She stared at her for another second, before retreating, back towards her forsaken advisers.

She tentatively glanced back at the mirror, tears still steaming from her eyes as she clung to Artemis, watching as Makatza prepared herself. Vulcan had bought her some time, even injured her opponent. And she was now drawing her lightening, preparing for the last of it.

With her whole body lit up, she leaped onto his back, and the resulting explosion was terrible to behold. They both lit up like a flash through the sky, their bodies convulsing until they both hit the ground.

Luna gasped in shock, leaning closer to the screen as they both became still. "She didn't... she's not...."

[Khonsu Bjoran]

What would locking them up even have done? He almost laughed, barely biting back the urge. He knew it was crazy to even have it, to want to giggle because it had just occurred to him that day that their Queen was insane. This was why he had only been sent to the Moon from Mau as a delegate at first. This was why he wasn't meant to stay. But he'd been asked, he'd been asked to be a guardian for a group of girls who were now dead and dying, and Artemis had been stupid enough to say yes. If he had said no, he'd be back home right now, blissfully ignorant to all of the pain and suffering happening in this system.

He scarcely dared to watch as the last of the great man's metal made Makatza into swiss cheese, as she exploded on his back and the pair of them fell, surging. Vulcan, nearby, still heaved a breath from time to time, likely holding on on the off-chance that his master would come back.

They had lost them all. They'd lost them all but Pluto and Saturn, who were hidden somewhere. And Mars, who was struggling to hold onto her sanity. He hadn't even noticed himself that Minu's body had been moved, instinctively holding onto Luna tighter as all of the mirrors, devoid of anything else to watch with the deaths of the other Queens, flipped over to the mourning Martian. She sank to her knees as if she was in a trance, and for the first time since the battle had begun, Artemis was glad he couldn't hear what was being said.

Never had he seen Ariana look like she wanted to cry. He'd never seen her look anything but fierce, in truth, but in that moment... she looked every bit the barely-eighteen-year-old-girl that she was. Broken and humbled, alone in a dying world. She looked exhausted, looked finished. He wanted to plead with their Queen to at least end her suffering, watching as she kissed Minu's hand before slowly lighting it up, using what looked to be like a tremendous amount of power to make her lover's remains turn to ash.

It was time-consuming, and the whole time, he stood in silence, rocking himself and the woman in his arms. The blonde man was neither shocked nor calmed when a shadow pierced through her bow shoulder like a knife, merely stiffening and watching as more shadows still came to hold her down. This was it.

Last one. They'd lose her yet. And so, Artemis wished for the only thing he could, for their last remaining girl. The one he'd never been able to reach, not truly, because she had been raised to believe that violence was your only shot at glory, and love and friendship belonged to the weak. Because she would never let herself fail in the eyes of a mother whose insanity rivalled that of the woman in the room with them then. "Let it be quick."

[Avetea Kaiz]

It was too late now to wonder how she'd gotten mixed up in all of this, like he had. Too late to wish she'd never met any of these girls, never loved them like the daughters she was too young to have. It was too late to take back everything she had lost.

She felt selfish, then, thinking of it that way. What had she lost, in the face of their princesses, who had suffered so much, and in the face of the one who was still suffering now? But she almost didn't care that it was selfish. It hurt, hurt more than anything she could ever have imagined.

Her powerlessness in this situation was striking. She had a handful of Artemis' shirt sleeve clenched tightly in her fist, her jaw locked as she watched with horror at the scene developing in front of them.

The shadows pinned her first. He knelt in front of her, screaming obscenities as he took a fistful of her hair and lopped it off, the raven locks floating away in the wind. The battle was raging on around them, but then there were just these two, Ariana and her attacker, in the middle of it all.

It was when he began ripping her clothes off and cutting into her that Luna understood his full intentions. She shrieked again in horror, her head turning to Selenity.

"Please, my Queen, I beg you! Enough!"

[Khonsu Bjoran]

He was going to... oh sweet souls, no.

It was the man who had killed Minu, and suddenly, even that act seemed so much more heinous. He'd moved her body, clearly, and Ariana had gone to track it down. He had to have known. He'd been the one to throw her head, give away his position... he'd wanted to be found. He wanted to do this, away from the battle that raged around them on the lower floors and outside the walls. He could have cried, knowing that this was how she was going to die.

He watched as she didn't wince or do so much as bat an eye as he took something that wasn't his to begin with, thankful he couldn't hear whatever the Earth man was saying. It wouldn't have been good, couldn't have been good. He'd make a shallow cut every so often - ones in her hands, across her breasts, her face. And all Artemis could do was stand and try not to be deafened by Luna as she shrieked at a Queen who wouldn't even look at them. This time, though? This time, he joined her.

"It's because she left you, isn't it. She told you about this, and you threatened her, and she left. And you're just going to let her suffer, right? Is this your vengeance?" Rage welled within him, and he stood still for a moment longer, if only for Luna's sake. He could scarcely watch as things continued, as the man seemed to struggle against himself during the entire ordeal. Like even he didn't want to be doing this.

None of them wanted it to be happening. Not Ariana, who was looking so defiant, but still so lifeless. Not her attacker, who was committing this... this crime, was the best word for it. Not either of the girl's advisors... no. The only person advocating its happening was Queen Selenity herself. And she didn't look like she was about to intervene in the slightest.

"This is wrong," Artemis ground out after a moment, spitting venom, "You're sick! They were all just little girls! Sariah was sixteen! Ariana's barely eighteen, Minu and your daughter, they were eighteen, Makatza was only twenty... you're stealing the life from little girls!"

"I did not ask for war."

"But you certainly allowed it!"

[Avetea Kaiz]

She wanted desperately to look away, but she couldn't. In some sense, she felt looking away from it would be a weakness; if Ariana had to bear this pain, then what was it to her, to have to watch it? It wasn't fair, that she and Artemis and the Queen were locked away in this tower, and that they had been left to the greedy hands of their enemies.

Tears continued to stream down her cheeks as Artemis spoke, and at last, her attacker leaned in to kiss her. She started as Ariana engulfed them both in flames, and they were consumed, their bodies disappearing inside the fire.

Luna exhaled, shuddering. It was over. They were all gone. At least now, there would be no more suffering. At least now, there would be no more pain. Not for them. All that was left was to determine the time and place of their own deaths.

She felt eerily calm. It would be their time soon. And they had already lost everything; living wouldn't be worth it, even if they had that chance. She wouldn't have been surprised if the Queen tried to bargain exile for herself. But she and Artemis? They were just as doomed. Their deaths would be quicker because there were no grudges against advisers, and they had no power to fight back.

"It's over," she murmured at last, releasing Artemis' sleeve from her stone-fisted clutch. "What will you do now?" All formalities were gone, now, as she turned her gaze to the Queen, her eyes empty.

[Khonsu Bjoran]

And like that, it ended. He watched as the fire first seemed to travel from Ariana's throat into her unnamed assailant's, as her one good arm tried to keep his face to hers. Whatever energy she had left was waning, and though he had always known her to be immune to fire, she caught as well. It was a slow, agonising death that he wouldn't have wished on anyone, save the man atop their last girl. But certainly not her. She seemed more content than she had all battle, though, going on her own terms. That had always been her way.

Neptune, Uranus, Mercury, Venus, the Moon Princess, Jupiter, and Mars were gone. And he was just... standing there. Dumbly letting go of Luna, staring at her pile of vomit from before. Gone. Just like that. It had felt like minutes, terrifying minutes, instead of the hours it had been. He swallowed hard, hearing the roar of battle growing closer as Selenity up and moved from them, motioning to a guard.

And there, on-command, was Saturn. Never in his life had Artemis felt rage like this before, literally shaking on the spot as he kept his fists firmly clenched at his sides. He wanted to scream, wanted to... to... "I will have Saturn end the world... once I see to it that the last of my power ensures rebirth for the girls." He blinked. What? She was going to... going to do this again? "I can seal our enemies away, at the cost of my own life. The crystal will seal the pair of you as well. The girls you have known will be reborn."

"So you're going to have them live all over again? Just to fight this monster again? Why not kill them as well?" he demanded, dropping the formalities much as Luna had. And, for a moment, he could have sworn that he saw Selenity smile.

"It is not that simple. Saturn is powerful, yes... but in order to ensure that this evil can never return to the world, I must see to it that it can be defeated again. Be it in this life, or the next. Some of them are not currently on-planet, which means that they would not be destroyed in the wake of her attack. You two must be their guardians again in the future. They may not remember this life. They may be different. Hopefully, though... they will be strong enough to vanquish this evil."

Why was it, then that the only evil he could see was standing before him?

[Avetea Kaiz]

The exchange between Selenity and Artemis almost washed completely over her, and only a few echoes of their conversation actually reached her. She felt dead inside, hollowed out by all that had been ripped from her. And at the same time, she supposed, she was still in shock from it all, unable to continue processing what she had just witnessed.

It wasn't until it sank in that they were going to do this again that she shivered, seemingly awakening from her reverie. She gazed up at Selenity as if transfixed by her audacity.

Was this the duty and the fate of their girls? To always be chained to this evil, to always suffer in order to play out their roles? Would there be any chance for happiness in the next life?

In a brief moment of clarity, she decided that, yes, it would happen. She would see to it that it did. She would guide them, with Artemis by her side, and they would raise these girls all over again, and they would defeat this evil, and they would live, at last, in peace.

Perhaps in this life, whatever it may look like, they could actually achieve happiness without the shadow of Selenity bearing down upon them. Maybe this was some kind of opportunity for a real future.

Gently, she grasped Artemis' hand, and was momentarily surprised how warm he was. She glanced at him, forcing a small smile. "Until then."

A blinding white light washed over them, totally wiping out her vision. She felt calmed, soothed. There was the sensation of her body rising into the air, and then a powerful blast of energy.

Darkness.