"Hmmmmmmmmm?" Sailor Makemake asked when she felt her vines wrap around something. "It must be them! Huzzah!"

The vines immediately to retract back into her shoulder pains, seeking to reel up what Makemake could only assume was Sailor Callisto and Sailor Enyalius. She was beaming with joy. Her eyes sparkled tremendously.

Quote :

Callisto uses Callisto Major Guard!

Makemake reels in a big one! Goblin Shark B is pulled from the water!

Grateful for the assistance, Enyalius did her best to be accommodating to Sailor Callisto, kicking with all she could spare to aide in their ascent, but she was beginning to lose her vision. Great black spots overtook her sight as her chest felt like it might implode; she didn't even see the first shark coming. As it slammed into them, Enyalius couldn't help the reflex. 

She breathed in. 

Realizing her mistake, she coughed and sputtered in the water, trying to cough it out of her lungs and only making things worse. 

Then the second one hit her and a hot sharp pain bloomed in her thigh, but she barely noticed; her chest was spasming. 

Don't be stupid.


How was this for stupid?! Death by drowning and shark attack. Nine times she and Achelois had faced off against a powerful agent of chaos and won. Nine times! And now, to be outdone by a stupid shark!

Achelois... 

DM wrote:

Enyalius has blacked out due to drowning. Enyalius loses 5 HP. She can be revived with good ol' fashioned CPR. For every turn she has not been revived, she will lose an additional 5 HP. 

Callisto and Enyalius near the surface!
Piranha's A B and C attempt to attack Callisto and Enyalius, attacking as a pack!
Did they hit?
--1
They miss!


Goblin Shark C attempts to attack Callisto and Enyalius!
--2
It misses!


Callisto and Enyalius reach the surface!

Callisto gasped for air as soon as she got her head above water, and summoned her wings to haul both herself and Enyalius back into the sky. She mentally dropped her Major Guard, letting it fade away to focus on securing her grip on the now unconscious senshi. She was a little bruised and her eyes stung from the salt, but that was nothing compared to the fact that she wasn't sure Enyalius was even breathing anymore.

"I think she started drowning on the way up." Callisto said as she got to the other senshi, once she caught her breath. "Anyone know CPR? We need to get the water out of her lungs fast..." Not to mention the possibly broken arm and torn up leg...

Sailor Makemake picked up her favorite senshi, Sailor Shark, from the water. Her smile turned to a quick frown.

"Wait a second, there's only one sailor senshi with teeth as sharp as that!" she said with wide, shocked eyes. "And I don't think she's a shark... maybe."

What to do with this catch? She looked toward the menacing tower. Perhaps she could use the evil thing to her own advantage.

"So long, big shark!" she said as she attempted to launch it from the vines to smack it into the side of the tower.

"I can perform CPR, but we would need something solid to do it on," Eshana said, flying down to the waters surface. Callisto came up with the brilliant idea of using Minor Guard to create a shield to act as a surface, so between the two senshi, they manhandled Enyalius onto the surface. 

Gathering some water, Eshana used Ocean's Grace on the senshi's injured arm and leg before switching her attention to reviving the senshi in front of her. Quickly positioning her hands in the center of the chest, Sedna pressed down, making sure to keep the compression's at the steady pace needed. Seeing no movement, she placed one hand on Enya's forehead, tilting it back while using her other hand to move the chin forward. Checking to make sure that she hadn't regained breathing on her own, she pinched Enya's nose. Leaning down, Eshana pressed her lips against the unconscious' senshi's, breathing life into the other.

Please let this work, she prayed. She really didn't want to have to escort a fellow senshi to the next life.

As she was inspecting the tower, she saw something hurtling toward her from the corner of her eye and quickly flew away. To her surprise, it was a shark. She didn’t quite know what to think of it when it fell away, but something else immediately grabbed her attention. Cracks were forming on the tower.

She briefly glanced at the others—were they doing CPR on Enya?! But seeing that everyone was taken care of, she forced her attention back on the wall. Raising her Chrome Blade, she jabbed the short sword into the cracks that had already formed.

Quote :

Sedna uses Ocean's Grace (5 MP) on Enyalius
How much healing?
--4
--CTRL 0
--MP 3
----Total of 7 points healed


EXP

Sedna healed a total of 7 HP
Sedna gains 7 EXP
Sedna has 7 out of 10 EXP for lvl 1.

Enyalius coughed, water gushing out of her mouth and down her face as she gasped for breath, her eyes flying open. She shot up into a sitting position, narrowly avoiding hitting Sedna's head with her own, and leaned on her left arm to brace herself. She took in everything about her situation -- she was above water, she was alive, thanks to - it looked like - Sailors Callisto and Sedna. Breathing deeply and gustily she looked down, not knowing what to expect beneath her but being appreciative it was solid; seeing the waves through the translucent shield wasn't exactly comforting, but with a quick rap with her knuckles she was satisfied that it wasn't going to immediately disappear. She took stock of the situation - Amatheia was suspended in a typhoon, Panacea was free, she had eyes on Nocturnus, Andromeda off by the tower, Varuna, Makemake, and Achelois nearby.

Calming down, her breathing slowed to a more regular pace, interrupted with the occasional wet cough. Without registering the breach in personal space, she reached up and clasped Sedna's upper arm in a grateful fashion. "Thank you," she breathed, "I'm in your debt." 

Releasing her friendly hold, she spotted Callisto and nodded towards her, "Yours, as well," she added, finally catching her breath. The buckler on the senshi's arm led her believe her guess was correct in placing Callisto in ownership of the surface she rested upon. "This is pretty neat," she commented with a grin, rapping on the translucent surface once again. 

Her leathers were uncomfortable when wet, and they had little time to waste. She experimentally prodded first at her leg - deeming it okay to stand on with the touch - and then at her dominant arm, wincing as she did so. She'd need to see Achelois about that one.

Quote :

Sailor Andromeda attacks the Tower with her Chrome Blade
Auto Hit, towers can't move.
How much damage?
--4
--STR 5
--WPN 2
----Total of 11 points of damage to the Spire!

Feeling certain now that the spire could be breached after all, she swung her blade onto the same spot one more time, desperation for the time that was running out and anger over how many people got hurt and almost killed already before they even got in driving her to use all the strength she possessed, yelling her frustration as she hacked the wall once more. "Open, damn it!"

Sailor Nocturnus

So far, she had not been much help to anyone. At least she could assist Andromeda, who had turned her attention towards the spire. Sailor Nocturnus flew over, hoovering behind Andromeda at an angle that she hoped would avoid the other sailor soldier accidentally directing her furious blade at Nocturnus and avoid her own attack from injuring Andromeda. These scant hours had involved too much friendly fire already.

She saw the area that Andromeda was focusing her energy on, and hoped that she could assist. Sailor Nocturnus closed her eyes, concentrating on the tower. When she opened them, her dark-gloved right-hand fingertip was beginning to glow with golden energy.

She took a deep breath.

"Ecliptic Rotation!"

Attack:

Panacea had been saved before Achelois could reach her, she was grateful for that.  She had pulled up and watch as first Amatheia and then Enya went into the ocean.  She hovered, slightly confused as the events unfolded before her.  This was a mess, why had everything gone wrong so quickly?  How much time had passed now?  She caught Nocturnus looking to her but found that she wasn't sure what to tell the girl.  

Achelois saw the blood in the water, and her heart flipped a little, whose was it?  Before she could head down, she saw Callisto dive down into the water and Amatheia had been lifted up by water spout.  Amatheia was knocked out but alive, she turned her attention back to the water, waiting for their heads to pop up.  Finally she watched as they broke the surface and Sedna assisted in pulling Enya onto some platform.  Enya wasn't moving, and she wanted to swoop in and see to the situation herself.  But she held back, watching as Sedna used CPR and some healing to bring Enya to.  Callisto and Sedna's quick actions with Enya had placed them into high opinion with Achelois. She sighed with relief as Enya began moving around, noticing that her arm would need some more mending. She felt her energy surge within her, calm and relieved, and sent it to Enya.
 
Now that Enya was okay, she turned her attention back to Amatheia, thankful that she could now use her hands.  Sedna had the girl in a water funnel and Achelois was unsure if she should get close to it or if she could even pull Amatheia out, she usually left the heavy lifting to Enya. She turned her attention back to the group hanging out on the only horizontal surface, it would be better to revive her there than in her arms.  She flew over to the group and hovered near Sedna, "Would you collect Amatheia and bring her to this platform for me? It would be easier to revive her here."

Healing:

"I'm glad you're alright," she said, smiling softly. She was glad that she had been able to help. It also felt good to use her healing magic rather than abilities to take life from a living creature for once. Opportunities such as this were too far and few in between for Eshana's liking. 

Nodding at Achelois's request, Eshana easily launched herself into the air and made her way to where she had left the water funnel. She regarded the senshi before her for a moment. She had endangered the entire group with her song, catching several of the members in her thrall. Panacea could have been gravely injured or even have died from drowning if she had made it into the water, yet Amatheia paid no mind to her and went into the water after the eels. She had made no move to even stop Panacea's decent. 

Feeling the rage she normally kept under such tight control begin to claw its way to the surface, Eshana allowed herself a brief moment to experience the emotion before shoving it to the side. Now was not the time. She would find out all what had happened before passing judgement. If she was found to be guilty...Gods help the senshi as Eshana's mother wasn't known to be vengeful for nothing and she had inherited her mothers temper and need for vengeance.  

Lifting the senshi easily, she brought her back to the shield Callisto had created, laying her down on the surface. Rather than rest on the surface once more, she hovered just above the waters surface. 

"What do you suppose should be done with the shark?" she asked lightly. The creature had been angry when she had spoken to it, beyond all reason. If chaos had affected it too much, would it simply be kinder to help it pass into the other world?

Callisto couldn't help but wince when Enyalius tested her shield with her knuckles. It was created from her will, and so it was linked directly to her mind. Anytime it was damaged, she'd feel a stab of similar pain and despair. Enyalius hadn't rapped it very hard though, so it was more like being poked hard in the head. Annoying, but not really harmful.

"There is no debt between people with the same goal," Callisto said. They were a team on this mission, so why would she not help someone in trouble? She smiled slightly at the compliment to her shield, still keeping most of her focus on maintaining it. "I find it useful for many things, though this is the first time I've been someone's operating table." 

She stayed still as the unconscious Amatheia was brought to rest on her barrier. It was a strange sensation to have a constant, non threatening weight on it. It didn't hurt, but she did feel a slight strain.

Enyalius nodded and smiled appreciatively to Callisto, remaining on the surface to gather strength.

Familiar energy wrapped her comfortingly as the wounds in her arms started to knit together and Enyalius sighed in relief, her eyes moving to find Achelois in thanks. It was though she had just to think of what she needed, and Achelois was there, working her magic to help. The blonde approached, her bright green eyes finding Sedna's as she requested aide; the side of Enya's mouth twitched up into a smile. She swung her legs over to Achelois's side of the platform and was about to reach out to her when Sedna returned, carrying Amatheia. 

Her smile faded instantly, discomfort growing in her chest as the dark-clad senshi laid Amatheia beside her on the shield. Enya regarded her closely; guessing Achelois's intent, having been enjoying her presence over listening to her instructions before, she held up one hand to stop her. She knew she had no control over Achelois, nor did she want control over her, but she wanted Achelois to know her suspicions before she went forward. 

"Is she one of us?" Enyalius asked, her voice clear and low, loud enough for Callisto and Sedna to hear beyond Achelois, as well as any of the other closer Senshi; they had to be careful with their time. They probably didn't have time for this conversation, but she would rather they know what she suspected and made the decision together than deal with consequences others might not have foreseen. "She sang a song that immobilized us almost as surely as it immobilized the eels - and she caught two of us in the spell. She saved Varuna from it, but did nothing for Panacea. She changed her song and caused Panacea and the eels to plummet - we don't know for what reason. Was she saving the eels or drowning Panacea or something else? When I followed her down there the sharks almost immediately attacked, which would suggest they weren't allies, but would beings such as those sharks even know their allies?"

She looked to Achelois, "If you revive her, she could sing without warning and we may all be under her spell, as powerless to act against it as Panacea was." The idea that she could be controlled sat like a stone in the pit of her stomach; the idea that Achelois could be controlled... her hand balled into a fist as she pressed on, turning her head to the side to stare at the ocean, honor-bound to voice the other side. "On the other hand, if she is not against us, it could be a powerful tool against our enemies." She shook her head slightly, her salt-soaked bangs falling from the top of her head and clinging to her face. "We don't know enough about her to trust her."

Achelois grinned as Sedna went to get Amatheia, turning her attention back to Enya, glancing over any remaining wounds.  She moved closer to the shield as Enya swung her legs over, looking like she was about to do something, when Sedna returned with the unconscious Amatheia.  "The shark," she turned to look but the typhoon was retreating back into the water.  "I guess that answers that," she replied smiling.

Achelois hovered near the girl, choosing to remain in flight, not knowing how much the barrier could hold.  She was reaching for the energy when she heard Enya call out something, concern in her voice.  She pulled back and turned, listening as Enya continued.  Some of what she said had been gnawing in the back of Achelois's mind, especially the song and disregard for Panacea.  Something had gone down in the water as well, Enya had been seriously hurt.  However, Amatheia had also been knocked out from the sharks.  

She sat, thinking, ultimately the power to revive was with her, but she knew that she would follow Enya's orders as well.  Her thoughts momentarily returned to other situations that had been disastrous, just like this.  A certain acid lake and some lightning came to mind.  She sighed, "I don't think her intentions were to harm, instead she appears to be overly eager, undisciplined, and untrained."  She looked from Amatheia to Enya, to Sedna and Callisto.  "Ill will or not, however, this eagerness could still cause us harm as we've experienced. So far all we've seen is her song which is a double-edged sword.  I would suggest reviving, but making some boundaries clear.  Do not use the song unless otherwise instructed, and check with other Senshi before diving into plans, we need to work together."  She looked to Andromeda and Nocturnus who were desperately trying to get the tower open, remembering the fear, and anger, she had felt when Achelois had been invaded. "This is Andromeda's home, we're here for her and to stop Chaos, remind her of this goal." She looked back to Enya, her say weighing the most, "What do you think of this?"

"If you are willing to hear another opinion, Sailor Amatheia helped us cleanse another planet of Chaos before we joined your own group here," Callisto said from her position under the shield. The thought of having a spy in their midst was worrying, but Neo-Queen Serenity would not have allowed an agent of Chaos to have asylum in Crustal Tokyo, let alone be sent off with them, right? If they could not trust Amatheia, surely they could trust the Queen's judgement?

"It would not make sense for her to turn against us here, with more senshi around. If she were evil, it would have been more beneficial to attack us before we arrived on Andromeda as backup."

"I threw a shark!" Sailor Makemake said proudly. "Oh and hey! That tower thing is cracking! Whoah!"

The ignorant senshi flew over to Sailor Andromeda and Sailor Nocturnus. Her wide, ignorant eyes beamed brightly. She lifted up her arm as tiny vines began to sprout from underneath her glove.

"Nice work, team! You're alright! Move aside a moment. I believe I can help."

She went to place her hand against the crack and used Makemake Vine Twister. The vines under her glove would erupt forward, threatening to dig into the small cracks and widen them. It might have been a small stroke of genius, but Makemake wasn't nearly smart enough to understand the scientific and almost spiritual reality of plants eventually overcoming humanoid structures. She just seemed to know it instinctively.

Enyalius suspicions were calmed with Achelois' words; her opinions swayed Enyalius's thoughts back off the edge of a senshi working for Chaos, and back into territory she was more familiar with - working with people who might not be used to working with others, people who follow their own plans without checking or announcing beforehand; they had run into that before on multiple occasions. She 'hmph'd remembering a few, and the consequences either way in each, as she turned to regard the blue senshi as Achelois continued with her suggestion on how to handle the situation. Enyalius agreed. 

Sensing Achelois's attention had shifted, Enyalius followed her gaze to the tower, where Andromeda, Nocturnus, and Makemake were gathered, sending out concentrated attacks. Maybe I wasn't so stupid trying to break in, Enyalius thought sardonically, but Achelois's words immediately redirected her to what was at stake. This planet was under attack. Her planet was under attack, too. The pain in her heart seemed to suddenly double, as though being reminded of what she was ignoring amplified the guilt. She could feel their fear, the darkness spreading. Did her planet only have 27 hours, too? Was she sacrificing them to help Andromeda? ... Did they even deserve to be saved?


Achelois's attention, a question fresh on her lips, helped her bury the thoughts and recenter on their current mission. Before she could reply, Sailor Callisto offered additional information in support of Amatheia's character. She nodded, glancing back at Amatheia, "I think it's a good plan, and keeping what you said in mind," Enyalius looked to Callisto, "I think Achelois's interpretation might have been correct. Unless she wanted something specific with this planet," She shrugged and pulled one leg up beside her to stand, "but that's bordering on conspiracy, right?" Unless it has something to do with the Chaos seed. Feeling about as recovered as she could, she mentally called out to her planet's power source and transformed, then took to the air, giving more space on the platform as her white senshi wings appeared to support her.

"You tell her about the singing bit, yeah?" Enyalius asked with a slight smile as she put her left hand on Achelois right shoulder gently, copper eyes transfixed for the moment on Achelois, but then her eyes moved past to see Makemake trying something with the tower. She sighed,  "I'm going to see what's happening over there," and took off in that direction.

"I do have to agree. She was helping us with other planets. Although there is the possibility that she was simply biding her time in order to do the most damage possible," Sedna said.


"There is no where safe to put her and we do not have the option of lugging an unconcious body around with us. What Sailor Achelois proposed sounds good. It is most likely a case that she is simply naive and unaware."

Achelois was glad to hear from the others that Amatheia had shown no signs of evil intent before.  Enya had also agreed with her, she sighed relieved, watching her slightly, she hoped she wasn't wrong about this.  She looked to the tanned senshi as she transformed back into her armor.  She met Enya's gaze and nodded at her request, her hand warm and reassuring on her shoulder.  Just for a second she watched as Enya flew off towards the others, before turning her attention back to Amatheia.  She had a nagging sensation, something was up, she wanted to talk to Enya but now was not the time.  She breathed deeply, pushing her worry away to be dealt with later and held her staff out over Amatheia.  Achelois focused her energy into the blue senshi until she felt her consciousness return to her.  She pulled her energy back, taking a moment to catch her breath.

Revival:

"Achelois, did you want me to finish healing her?" she asked. Dividing up the healing duties between them may be the best way to save their energies in the long run, especially as Achelois appeared to be a stronger healer than she was.

Achelois looked up to Sedna and grinned as the senshi offered to bring Amatheia's health back up.  "If you want to, of course!" She wasn't one to turn down someone's help. She hovered back a little to make room for Sedna if she needed it.

She grinned at Achelois before moving her arm in graceful manner, bringing water up to cover the recently revived Senshi. Concentrating, she used her healing magic to heal some of the injuries she sustained. 

Spoiler:

Amatheia had been quite upset when she saw her attack miss the shark, instead hitting the eel she had been trying to protect. She cursed mentally but saw it had come to rest near one of the walls. It was the last thing she saw when suddenly the breath, or water, was knocked out of her by something fast and large. Then everything had gone black. Just before fading into unconsciousness, she hoped the eel and the other senshi would be alright.

Then suddenly she was looking up at the sky, lying on a firm surface. She blinked slowly, letting her second eyelids slid up and out of the way so she could see a bit better, her tail shifting a little in the air as she became aware of the fact she was no longer in the ocean and she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air. She slowly sat up, touched her head a bit then looked around, seeing some of the other senshi around her, and they were still outside.

She gave a little start when she found herself being surrounded with water, and it helped relieve some of the fatigue she was feeling. She touched her chest lightly then gave a grateful smile to the senshi around her before her expression turned vaguely worried. “What happened? Did no one follow the eels and find the entrance? Is everyone alright?” She asked as she tried to look around for the others.

As both Nocturnus and Makemake helped her, the spire burst open, and she peered inside. When nothing but a dark room awaited them, it felt anticlimactic, but she was sure that whatever it was she was meant to destroy was in there somewhere. She glanced gratefully at both senshi near her. “Thank you,” she told them, before turning to look at the others further away.

“Everyone, we got the tower open!” she yelled to the rest of the senshi. Turning back into the hole, she steeled her resolve and carefully flew inside, hovering just beyond the doorway to assess the situation better. She realized that she should probably wait for the others, but this was her planet… and it felt like her responsibility. Added to that was the fact that she had never been able to depend on others when it came to saving Andromeda before, and though she had learned to trust a few people since then, now that the threat became personal, old habits resurfaced and she found it hard to think of others in her team when Chaos was so close by.

Sailor Nocturnus

The way that Andromeda glanced into the tower made Nocturnus fear she would rush off into the darkness. There was something about the glance in her eyes. Sailor Nocturnus, however, thought of the experience in that awful maze and how very nearly so many members of their team nearly met an early end. A single sailor soldier would have suffered greatly in that same situation. There was no way to know or expect what form the Chaotic evil might take here, on this world.

"I'm glad we were able to break through," the young sailor soldier-in-training interjected. "...Please let us help."

In many ways, the oceanic sailor guardian of this planet had been a figure for Nocturnus to admire and learn from. If the woman rushed off and met some kind of awful fate... She didn't want to think about that possibility.