Chapter 2: Salvation...or Not

~*~ Heart's Storm ~*~
	When Ardice awoke, it was to mounds and mounds of
snowy sheets piled so heavy that it weighted down her tired
bones. The enormous bed was magnificent, with fanciful
curtains of dark blue silk-the color joggled her memory, but
she couldn't quite recall what they reminded her of. Perhaps it
was the rich night background of the stars... The numerous
coverings were as fluffy and warm as those she had previously
been accustomed to on the Moon and when she had lived in
the Jovian palace. In fact, their heat and heaviness was nearly
suffocating, and she struggled to free herself from the
confines of the blankets. Her joints creaked in protest at her
renewed activity after a blissful night of undisturbed rest. As
she fell back onto the mountainous mound of feather pillows,
Ardice frowned as her auburn curls cascaded into her view.
Brushing them away, she examined them carefully, noting the
glossy sheen that meant that they had been washed recently...
but she didn't remember doing anything of the sort. The last
thing she remembered was...was...
	Everything came back suddenly: the news that her
beloved home planet had fallen, that all the other planets had been
attacked, raided, and destroyed; the awesome, alabaster white
pillars of the Moon Palace falling, the formerly indestructible
Moon Kingdom bowing under the mighty power of Metallia; the
cowardly teleport to Earth to save Annamika, how Ardice had
remained behind as an anchor for the others' survival. Then in the
forest, there had been five men...she could bring blurred images
of them to mind but couldn't quite recall their names. Only two
of them were clear in her mind: the first was brown-haired with
deep, deep blue eyes...eyes of a color she had seen recently.
Ardice's gaze darted to the heavy silk surrounding the bed,
enclosing it on all sides in a way she didn't quite like anymore,
despite the privacy. So _that_ was what they had reminded her
of. She scowled darkly, disliking the fact that his eyes remained
in her mind's eye. Sylvain, that had been his name. The other
was...Marinel? Yes, Marinel. He had been the blond-haired one,
with unruly curls rather than gentler waves, with the icy mint
green eyes. She shivered at the memory and huddled closer
into the stifling covers.
	Suddenly, her frown deepened as more details of that
fateful night returned to her: all the blood, the screams, the
fighting, the unquenchable stench of death...she should have
stayed. Maybe she couldn't have saved them, for they had tried,
with their paltry powers, but she should have remained to die
with the Lunarians. They weren't _her_ people, but she hadn't
been given a choice about returning to Jupiter. It would have
been more honorable. But apparently, honor was useless on
Terra. Ardice glowered darkly. That...that _man_ (she
remembered his reaction to her calling him a bastard) had dared
to set hands on her and then he had imposed rudely upon her,
breaking through barriers she had been too tired to reinforce so
he could...heal her? Was that what had sent her into such a
deep unconsciousness?
	Finally managing to sit up, the brunette woman examined
her bare arms and hands carefully: the blood had been washed off
her hands, and there were no oozing open cuts, merely scars
almost completely healed. Reaching up, she touched her neck and
face hesitantly and felt the flaking scabs of closed wounds there,
as well as...tiny grains upon her cheek? Ardice looked down at
her fingertip, noting the crystalline particles. Touching her tongue
gently to the tip of her finger, she tasted the salty bitterness and
was appalled. She had cried in front of these men, whoever they
were? Complete strangers who had nothing better to do than
interrogate odd women in the forest? The thought alerted her to a
new problem: Ardice had absolutely no idea where she was, what
time of day it was, and how much time had elapsed.
	She pushed off the heavy covers and blinked in dismay
when she couldn't recognize the clothing she was wearing: a long,
white nightgown covered with fripperies like lace and little
bows. Making a face, she noted several purple-blue bruises that
had faded to a lime yellow-green. About to push aside the dark
blue hangings, Ardice gasped when a few more things were
made clear to her: someone she didn't know had removed her
clothes, bathed her, and dressed her. She felt a sick wave of fear
at the intrusion. She would die of disgrace and shame if it had
been one of those five men. At least, she tried to hope optimistically,
she hadn't been raped. No, the sarcastic part of her mind replied,
only _Terrans_ have discovered you, seen the teleport, taken you
to an unknown place, bathed you, and dressed you.
	Declining a retort, Ardice attempted to find the gap in the
curtains that would allow her to open the draperies. When she finally
discovered that opening, the door creaked open, and she leaped
back in bed with surprising quickness, considering how tired and
beat-up her body was. "You could knock," she snapped, glowering
at the intruder as she took refuge under the sheets.
	Blinking in surprise, the general bowed deeply and said,
"My sincere apologies, Lady Ardice. I assumed that you would still
be sleeping." Sylvain's eyes flickered briefly over her unkempt state
before flushing darkly and looking down at the ground.
	"That doesn't make it any better," she declared self-righteously.
Her emerald green eyes sharpened as she asked, "Who are you?"
	"I'm...Sylvain. General Sylvain." When her eyes widened as
she recognized the name, Sylvain gulped audibly. Trying to fathom
what had distressed her so, he continued, "Um...yes, I am that Prince-
King of the South."
	Even more taken aback, she retorted rapidly, "That was a rather
pompous statement." Her hand flew up to her mouth when she realized
what she had said, flushing to the roots of her hair. Here she was,
smothered in blankets with little more than a little scrap of material on,
insulting a King. One of the Terran Generals, she reminded herself.
That made it even worse, if possible.
	Meanwhile, Sylvain was shocked by her forwardness. He was
used to flirtations and being treated as if he were a god of some sorts
by the court ladies-all except his mother and his sister. He smiled
wryly at that, for his sister Calandra was currently of the opinion
that not only was he an asinine fool, his friends were just as bad if
not worse. She had spent the better part of the night berating him
while he paced outside her door, waiting for first Marinel to finish
healing her and then his most trusted friend and servant, their old
nurse, to bathe and dress her. The gen had no doubt that Calandra
was most likely raging at his friends in his study at the moment.
When she was done with her furious tirade, they would probably
laugh good-naturedly and exchange a few friendly flirtatious
comments while they waited for him. Sylvain blanched at that:
he was beginning to receive the impression that Calandra was
taken in by Pyralis's charm, and he would have to warn his
"charming" friend of the consequences of exactly what he would
do to the Eastern King if he so much as touched his sister without
the most honorable intentions in mind. He was so caught up in
thinking about the matter that he completely missed Ardice's
question. "W-what?" he stammered rather inelegantly.
	Giving an exasperated huff, she repeated, "Where
am I?"
	"Oh...the Southern Palace."
	'Sylvain!! Sylvain, wake up, damn you! This is no time
to be letting your reaction time get slow!'
	Staggering slightly, the general barely noticed Ardice
reflexively jumping out of bed to steady him as he sent back,
'I'm awake, I'm awake. That was a bit rough. What's going on?
What happened?'
	'Some disruption in the North...the King sensed it and
called Roshaun and Nitesh to him. Marinel is leaving to take
care of the Northern problem, whatever that is. The people there
are used to seeing him with Roshaun, and he knows the terrain
best out of all of us besides Roshaun himself. I'm going with him,
then returning to the East if possible. Watch out-you don't
want the King to find out about your acts of hospitality now,
do you?' Azure blue flared brightly with his anxiety, and
Sylvain winced. Pyralis's contact had the tendency to be a little
over-exuberant when he was fired up.
	'No. I'll be careful. Thank you, Pyralis. I'll see you
later then?'
	'If we're still alive.'
	'Best of luck...'
	'To you, too.'

~*~ Avoiding the Inevitable ~*~
	Unfortunately, Isadora woke to nothing so pleasant as
silken sheets and fancy draperies. She was greeted by searing,
stinging winds and burning sunlight casting an unbearable glare
into her eyes. Her vision was spotty, sunspots filling her field
of view everywhere she glanced. But of course, there was no
change from last night except the light source: just miles and
miles and miles of empty sand. Sighing, the raven-haired woman
resigned herself to her fate as she got up from the hard ground and
began her long, directionless trek. There were no markers to make
sure she wasn't going in circles, and she was unfamiliar with using
the direction of the sun (and the stars, for that matter) on Earth.
	Before long, Isadora began to think she preferred the cool
nighttime to the roasting daytime. She had also accepted the fact
that she would probably die somewhere in this relentless environment.
No one would find her, far from civilization (if any true civilization
could be found on Earth). Scavengers, if they dared to exist in this
heartless land, like vultures would most likely feast on her remains.
She shuddered at the thought, then looked down at her arms and
legs, already burned a raw pink by the sun's light. She winced as
she noticed a long scrape on her leg that stretched from mid-thigh
to knee. Had she water and cloth to wash the wound and bind it, it
probably would have healed with a faint scar, as it wasn't too deep.
Nevertheless, it hadn't closed and had probably bled the entire
night. Isadora hoped that it wouldn't get infected, then told herself
sourly that she'd probably die before it festered enough to kill her.
	Shaking her head at her dismal thoughts, she gritted her
teeth when she discovered that forward movement allowed more
blood to run from the cut on her leg, and another slice on her side
reopened. Staring at the more gruesome wound with dismay,
Isadora sighed and closed her eyes, allowing the tracery of tears to
run down her face, forgetting about the urgent need to find and
conserve water. 'What is it about this place that makes me feel
so vulnerable and unprotected? I haven't given up this easily
since...well, forever...and everything is gone now. Mars, the red
planet, in all its war glory, couldn't stand against Metallia.
Now the surface of Mars is red, not because of its sands, but
because of the bloodshed... It's soaked so deeply into the planet
that the stain will never be removed. Oh, Selene...why? Why do
this? You allowed your kingdom, the Kingdom of Light, fall,
overcome by darkness. Is there no hope left?'
	As her heavy eyelids lifted, Isadora's luminous purple
eyes glowed with a surprising intensity as she held her head up
high. 'No. Annamika is still alive, and she's what counts. I'm her
guardian. I have to _live_ and not give in to whatever strange
things on Earth are affecting me.'
	She looked down at the scars crisscrossing her burned palm,
a hand that had previously been milky-white and beautiful. Raising
it in defiance of the bright light, she remembered something, an
ancient secret, that her mother had told her about once. Her beloved
mother, who was now dead at the hands of lowly Terran men-they
would pay. "I call upon the power of Mars, as its last prin-queen,
as its last queen. Take me someplace else on Earth," she whispered,
"anywhere but this damned desert. An oasis would be nice. But Pluto
would be better." Isadora's eyes shut once more as flickering red
power cascaded down from the heavens, then up again, ruffling her
dark, sweat-sheened hair. It swept upwards to engulf her, gently
wrapping her in its warmth and mystery.
~*~		~*~		~*~		~*~		~*~
	Isadora hit packed, dusty ground hard, and she looked around
cautiously through veiling lashes. There was the greenness of life
here and a deep, sparkling blue pool of water. She prayed that it
wasn't an illusion or that she wasn't delirious with hallucinations.
The Queens of Mars held the power of the their planet, as each of
the queens of the planets did, a legacy left behind from the ancient
times when there had been senshi. Senshi were always female, so
the power had been left sealed to the queen rather than the king,
something she was most grateful for now. She had never liked using
any of her powers before, except for reading auras. There was
something very intimate yet far away about reading another person's
aura. Shaking herself for thinking about things that didn't matter
at the moment, the raven-haired woman reached out hesitantly to
dip her hand in the sunlit surface of the water, which blazed like a
thousand diamonds. At the moment, a few drops of water to her
were more precious than any jewels could be, and she nearly cried
with relief when she found it was real.
	However, before she could immerse herself in the long-
desired water, bright blue light filled the air above her, and she felt
a sense of foreboding. There was something familiar about this
light...something very close but so strange. Isadora couldn't move
away; she was so fascinated by the coloring of the air above her. A
body materialized suddenly and fell clumsily downwards, and she
realized rather belatedly the nature of the teleport. Shifting
frantically to get out of the way, she cried out as the person
slammed into her, knocking her across the sand and doing horrible
things for her injuries, which were of a rather serious nature.
The last things Isadora remembered were hair as golden and
glorious as the sun, along with one muttered curse word. "Damn."

~*~ Prince of Ice ~*~
	Struck to his knees by the howling winds of a sub-zero
environment, Marinel struggled to his feet and cursed furiously as
the cold cut into him through his bulky clothing. Here he was, on a
fool's errand doing blind teleports he had no business doing after
a long night spent in the forest and healing a stranger, whose walls
he had to knock down and then re-make. Then Pyralis had left him
midway through the teleport to deal with some other disturbance
in the East Sylvain had alerted him about. Why hadn't Sylvain
gone himself?! Ah, yes, his sarcastic and cutting inner voice replied,
he was too busy worrying about that woman from the forest.
	He stalked forth into the swirling blackness that obscured
his view and promised himself a nice, warm fire and some ranting
at the hapless Sylvain once he found exactly what was sending
these odd energy readings out like a distress signal. There it was:
a strange, dome-like thing of a deep sapphire blue.
	The gen fought his way through the impending snow and
came to an abrupt halt as he nearly trampled a beautiful, dark-
haired woman lying in the snow. She was lying like a crumpled
rag doll, short tresses falling into her face, pale skin shining like
the moonlight. He raised a sardonic brow at his admiration of her
and realized that she was what the dome had been protecting.
Unfortunately, it had faded just as he'd approached. Had she just
run out of energy to sustain it, probable (especially since she was
unconscious), or had it somehow...reacted to him? He ignored
his thoughts and leaned down hesitantly, about to place his second
and third fingers on her neck to check her pulse when he sighed
and hit himself on the head. There was no way he would be
able to feel her faint heartbeat through his thick gloves. Sighing,
he knew there was nothing else to do and took her gently in
his arms, shocked out of his normal pessimistic state when she
burrowed further into the warmth his bundled body provided.
Feeling a strange emotion running through his veins, Marinel
shook his head and murmured to himself, "To Roshaun's
palace...and there had better be something warm there, unlike
the rest of these frozen wastelands."

~*~ Falling in Love With Love ~*~
	Their spirits were heavy with ghosts and burdens,
weighting them down with the price to be paid by such destruction
they had witnessed. At least they were nearly out of the
sulphurous mud flats, muck forever ingrained into their sturdy
boots. Annamika and Kiora had spent the entire night trekking
through the swampy bogs and marshes in hope of finding clean
water, food, and a way to get to Pluto.
	Stopping suddenly, the silver-haired princess stiffened
as blazing light filled the Silver Crystal. It began to pulse as if
it had a light of its own, and when Kiora frowned and reached
over to steady her, a thin, glimmering thread of gold was teased o
ut of her and absorbed into the crystal. Holding Annamika
upright, the blonde watched in astonishment as the color was
drawn into the glowing orb, and three other colors soon joined
the gold and silver intermixing: green, red, and blue. _Their_
colors, she remembered.
	As she watched them swirling around in beautiful
harmony, she began to feel both comforted and agitated-
until Annamika gave a startled cry and went limp. They were in
an extremely precarious position, on a narrow little strip of land
beside a large pool of something she couldn't identify. Kiora's
cornflower blue eyes widened in alarm as she teetered on the
edge, and her powers both inside and outside of the crystal
encasement flared wildly. A strangled, choked scream left her
throat as she flailed wildly, trying to keep both of them from
the pool. The stones from the edge of the pond kicked in begin
to sink slowly into the muck, and she turned pale when she
realized what that strange material was...quicksand. Just as
Kiora felt herself falling in, and Annamika along with her, she
felt something hard and solid knock her away. Gasping, flat
against the ground, she looked up into turbulent gray eyes and
felt her heart drop into the lower recesses of her stomach.
~*~		~*~		~*~		~*~		~*~