Sailor Makemake yelped when she felt something bite onto her leg. Looking down, she saw two beady eyes peering back at her. What had just happened? What was this thing? What was all this pain?

She paused for a moment, noticing that the others were attacking creatures that looked somewhat similar to the creature that had just nibbled onto her leg.

"Do you want a hug?" she asked it with a kind smile. "You guys. I think this one's friendly! I'll hug it back!"

Without realizing the potential danger to her or the aggressive fish, Sailor Makemake used Makemake Vine Twister. Vines erupted through her boot, breaking the fabric around the fish and aimed to clutch onto the fish and squeeze it adorably tight. She blinked to see the Ecliptic Rotation nearly hit her.

Sailor Nocturnus

The bad news was that her attack completely missed the fish that had caught hold of Sailor Makemake's foot. Not a single star even vaguely headed to a point where it could have made contact with the monster. The good news was that she also completely missed hitting Sailor Makemake as well. And so far hadn't enraged additional creatures that were lurking somewhere in the room. The sage-suited sailor soldier seemed to have the fish under control, at least for now. Sailor Nocturnus tried not to sigh or otherwise show her disappointment; it just wasn't appropriate at the moment, in the heat of battle. But Nocturnus was definitely feeling the "in training" part of her title as "sailor soldier-in-training" right about now...

As if on cue, two monstrous looking fish emerged to attack them. One clamped onto Makemake's leg before Callisto could even react, and a different one slipped past Enyalius to tackle Achelois. She went to grab her shield to help Makemake out, but stopped herself from attacking. If she missed the creature, she could cut the other senshi's leg off by mistake. Thankfully, she had handled it herself, killing the fish attached to her.

Callisto turned to the only other enemy she could see, Frilled Shark A, and used Callisto Disc. She removed her miniature shield and threw it like a high speed frisbee, glowing with energy.

Before they knew it, enemies had started to appear and attack. There were only two that she could see so far and they were both being taken care of already. That left about eight more. Not liking this semi-darkness they had to fight in, she went back to the hole on the side of the tower and sliced it with intention to make it wider with her Chrome Blade, so that more light could fill the room.

She watched with satisfaction as the ugly shark was thrown backwards by her blade and nearly immediately skewered by Sedna's halberd; from the damage dealt, one more hit should be enough to -- Enyalius turned sharply, her eyes widening and jaw dropping as a glowing shield sliced neatly through the air between them, the edges cutting into Achelois's stomach. The blonde's green eyes widened in shock. Enyalius's arms reached out for her as her name was torn from her chest, "Achelois!" 

A quick burst had her arms around Achelois, pulling her securely to Enya's chest; another had them out of the battle, back out into the darkening light of day in the eye of the hurricane. She turned them so Achelois's back was towards the Spire's unbroken wall and, still holding Achelois close, scanned the area around them for enemies - nothing would surprise them now. Only when she was satisfied did she slowly release her, her arms moving from the blonde's back so her hands could hold Achelois's upper arms gently, her eyes looking carefully into Achelois's face to read her expression, then down to gauge the wounds - she was nowhere near Achelois's level of expertise when it came to injuries, but you'd have to be stupid not to see that this was bad. 

"What - " she choked - she didn't know what to do. Without her staff, could Achelois heal herself? If Achelois couldn't heal herself, then -- she grit her teeth, pressing them together hard, and worked through her fear. "What do I do?"

She turned when she heard Enya scream Achelois’ name, and saw that the healer had been injured. Badly, it seemed. Her heart plummeted when she saw this. Not her. Fury bubbled from within, and she desperately searched for a target to channel it.

Turning her attention to the enemy that was still standing, she rushed toward it and attacked Frilled Shark A with her blade.

Callisto's spinning shield sailed past its target, and before she could call it back for another try, it cut Achelois open instead. She heard Enyalius cry out the healer's name, and watched as she was picked up and moved out the the battle's way. Her buckler now laid on the sandy floor across the room, dull and bloodied. Almost as an afterthought, she held out a hand and mentally tugged at it. The shield complied and shot back into her hand, and she inspected it in a detached way before hooking it back onto her arm. 

She'd just seriously hurt another senshi. Callisto wasn't sure if she was still stunned, or simply compartmentalizing her emotions so well that she felt empty. Cold and sick to her stomach even. She wanted to be angry at herself, at the fish, at the spire's lack of light, or maybe even at her weapon, but the more logical part of her mind deemed it pointless. She could not reverse her own actions, and she could not find a corner to hide in as if she had accidentally broken her parents' vase.

What if Achelois died? She wanted to follow them out and see, but she had a feeling that she would not be wanted there. An apology wouldn't help right now anyway. And there was still a battle going on that needed finishing, whether she felt good about it or not. She'd leave the offense to the other's though. Ignoring the smell of blood still stuck to her buckler, she moved to protect Nocturnus and Makemake, using Major Guard to block Viperfish A if it tried to attack.

Achelois had just started to feel out the room, separating out the Senshi from the enemies to discern locations when she suddenly felt something hard against her, throwing her back out of her stance.  Her staff fell from her hand as she struggled to catch her breath, her soon to be bruised ribs were tight against her lungs.  The creature struggled against her only momentarily before Enya had ripped it off her and thrown it away from her.  Achelois looked to Enya gratefully as she tried to slow down her breathing.  

Looking down, Achelois's eyes searched for her staff when she heard a whizzing sound.  She looked up just in time to see a small flying disk coming towards her.  Unable to react quick enough, she felt the object tear against her stomach.  This just wasn't her day. No sooner had the front of her tunic begun to stain red, she felt arms around her and light took the place of the darkness she had been in.  She needn't guess who it was holding her so tightly, the ends of her mouth attempting to stretch upward as she leaned her head against Enya, her armor felt even colder as Achelois's skin began to lose heat.  She'd love to be able to go to sleep right there.

After a moment, she felt Enya's hands move to support her, pulling Achelois away from her ever so slightly, so that she could see the damage done.  Achelois wanted to smile, she wanted to say she was fine as Enya's eyes searched hers but she could barely breathe.  The pain in her abdomen and chest made speaking and breathing... difficult.  She felt dizzy, nauseated, and her skin was clammy. From Enya's facial reaction, she knew she must look a sight.  However there was one thing that Enya would not see no matter how she searched, fear.  Achelois was not afraid, worried about Enya maybe, but she wasn't fearful.  Because she wasn't alone.

Her mind, tired but still functional went through what needed to happen: she needed to heal herself, she needed her staff, but mostly... She looked to Enya's face taking in her copper colored eyes as the latter asked her for instruction.  She needed the focus as she tried to get through ragged breathes some comfort for Enya, "We've seen worse, it'll be alright." She reached up an arm and gently placed it around Enya's neck, pulling herself a little closer so she could take some of the strain off her abdomen.  They could do this, her mind began to gain a little energy, a little more focus as she shifted her attention to the body next to her, using it is a focal point.  "In a moment we need to get my staff but first-" she coughed for a few seconds but quickly calmed down.  She closed her eyes and found her connection with planet Achelois and drew on the energy, pulling its life force into her body.  This task was much more difficult without her staff but she needed to reduce the damage even a little.  It would help them both.

Heals:

Sailor Nocturnus

Her mouth opened to scream when the shield connected with Achelois, but she made not a sound. Nocturnus watched in horror as the events unfolded--the blood, the falling, Enyalius's cry, the way she ran for the blonde, and the pair's exit from the tower. The small soldier wanted to go to them, she wanted to run and follow and try to help. She didn't know what she could do, but she would have done anything if she could have. There was only a rising panic in her chest. She didn't even notice the Viperfish rushing towards her.

Instead, her dark eyes scanned the room desperately, looking for Achelois' previously-dropped staff. She hoped that she could see it and maybe retrieve it for the healer.

Sailor Makemake was surprised to see that the strange fish had "disappeared." She assumed it had gone away and shrugged her shoulders.

She turned to see that Sailor Callisto had accidentally struck some of the others with an attack meant for one of the fish. She didn't understand why the others were attacking the fish but she assumed they likely had a good reason. Either way, Sailor Achelois was down and things weren't looking good.

She didn't see that though.

"Don't worry, Sailor Callisto," she said with an innocent smile. "It's not that bad. We're doing great. Let's keep pressing forward and all that."

Amatheia frowned delicately as the icicles missed the fish. She let out a soft breath of something like exasperation before the fish was rushing at her. She blinked and shifted to the side quickly, watching as it sailed past her. But now it was heading towards the strange Makemake who had claimed to be a sun, and one of the younger senshi. She couldn't attack without surely hitting one of them, so she merely sufficed with calling out a warning to them. “The eel fish! Watch out!” She felt the beginnings of unease and frustration inside of her, but she worked at keeping it low. She knew what would happen if she was pushed over the edge.

Then she heard one of the senshi's names being screamed and turned, her eyes widening slightly to see Achelois wounded, and Enyalius protecting her. What had happened? Was it one of the fish? She felt her hands beginning to clench, but she took a deep slow breath to steady herself. She could not afford to lose control, and she could do nothing for the wounded senshi. So she did what she could do. She began looking around the room, floating a bit further in as she looked for other enemies, preferably those not in the direction of the other senshi.

Her satisfaction from landing a good hit on the creature didn't last long when it became apparent that something had gone wrong. She could easily feel Enya's worry and fear directed towards her companion - Eshana had to commend her, she was keeping it together extremely well given the circumstances. Sedna found herself fascinated by their relationship; she had never been that close to anyone in her long life and wondered what having a companion like that would be like. 

Grabbing her water skin from where she kept it hidden, she uncorked it. Drawing out some of the water, she sent it over to the wound on Achelois using Oceans Grace on her.

Once the lights went out, Panacea didn't notice what was happening anymore. Her sight turned black, her body froze and everything she could perceive was the sound of an attack around her.

Who had been hit? Who was injured? Who attacked?

Was it all ten enemies that attacked now? Were they encircled now? Was this the end?
With her eyes still not used to the darkness, Panacea stared into the void, persistently trying to see anything. However, her limited sight remained and everything she could rely on was her hearing now.

She heard the others attacking and she heard the enemies coming. It indeed was a fight. But what exactly was happening? Was she in the middle of the fight or was she standing at the outside? Was everyone alright? Would they save Andromeda in time?

Slowly her sight started to return, the vision getting better and better until she eventually saw what was happening around her. Immediately her eyes fell on Enyalius und Achelois, Achelois obviously injured and Enyalius looking after her.
Achelois was able to heal herself, wasn't she? It wasn't that bad, right?

However, the more she looked at it, the more she realized that she apparently couldn't. Instead, Sedna, the woman from earlier, started to approach the two of them, offering her healing powers in order to save Achelois.

She saw another one of those strange eel fish, and a elegant shark. She raised an eyebrow slightly to see it, then decided to not bother it for the moment. It was too far from her anyway. But the other one was closer. She would dearly love to take out her- No. She couldn't think like that. She would not allow the anger and negativity to override her. She had been kind with the flying eels because surely they were only mildly caught up in this situation..But these creatures had obviously been twisted. She knew they must be unnatural.

So she would take care of them. Once again, she took a deep calming breathe before she began swirling her hand above her head, eyes focused on the creature above. Once more, she sung her attack phrase and summoned the droplets of water around her. She swung her arm with force at the viperfish, and the water droplets hurled towards the creature, freezing in the air to needle sharp tips as they flew.

Achelois's ragged breath undid anything her words tried to build; they had seen worse, they had come out alright, but that made no guarantees for now and Achelois had never been this bad before. As her arm wrapped around Enya's neck she stood straighter, stronger, supporting Achelois as best she could while still in flight; wishing there had been some place safe to land, she looked to the bottom of the tower as her free hand went instinctively to Achelois's waist to offer additional support, her search for some surface becoming a little more frantic as she warm wet of Achelois's blood covered her shield hand. As Achelois coughed she regained Enya's complete attention, copper eyes wide and staring, wanting to go right then and there for the requested staff to help Achelois but not daring to move, less -- her heart beat faster, hammering against her ribs in near panic at the blonde's state and the frightening thought that something serious could happen to her - something serious had happened to her. 

Achelois's eyes glowed faintly, their cat-like pupils standing out, fiercely accented by the green markings trailing down her face and Enyalius dared not breathe, realizing what she was doing and doing her best not to interrupt or distract her. She could read the strain on her face as she summoned her powers; Enya's logical mind tried to work through the puzzle of Achelois and her staff as a means of mental escape - as a senshi she should be able to use her powers without a focus, but Achelois practically required it for large magic when away from her planet; was it because she was never supposed to leave? Guilt bubbled up in her heart like a sludge; if it hadn't been for her, Achelois would never have left her planet - she would be living their peacefully, with her animals and her seasons, doing the job of the planet's goddess, instead of out here on planets in various states of chaotic takeover, risking her life repeatedly - and for what? For Enya not to feel like the terrible person she is for abandoning her planet by helping her save others. She was so - that she had left it all - she couldn't even put words to what she was feeling, of how she perceived this part of her partner and her own part in their lives. She was selfish and Achelois was giving and now she could be -- 

Her hand tingled with energy and Enya released her breath in a relieved gasp, a thankful smile breaking her face and releasing the stray tears that had blurred her vision. She looked down and brushed her hand gently across Achelois's stomach, feeling the raw new skin covering what had been a bleeding gash, and her tension escaped with a laugh. Her hand moved to cup Achelois's face, her thumb tracing the green markings familiarly as she shook her head, her breath still hiccuping out in bursts of relieved laughter, "You scared me!" she admonished.

Sailor Nocturnus

She hesitated for a moment when the Viperfish lurched forward, but something stopped it. She glanced up, seeing that Sailor Callisto was using her powers. And at that moment, her eyes caught a glint of something else. She couldn't be sure... but she thought it was Achelois' staff. Could she make it around to grab it and run it outside? That was all she could think about, but she knew she had to be smart about it to avoid putting herself in undue danger.

But...

She thought of Achelois, watching the blood seep into the woman's uniform... and she had to at least try!

Sailor Nocturnus took a deep breath and tried to quickly make her way towards the staff, still trying to stay alert for danger, hoping to grab it and run out through the entrance. If only her fingers would close around it without giving another monster the opportunity to strike...!

Sailor Nocturnus

She felt the sting and immediate worrisome tingling, but Nocturnus knew she also had the staff in her hand. Looking down, she saw a strange spiky outline of something clinging to the back of her glove, the spikes piercing through in the black fabric. She had to get outside, to Achelois! Sailor Nocturnus increased her grip on the staff, trying to fight against the awful sensation that was changing to feel hot and uncomfortable, and turned towards the slashed entrance that Sailor Enyalius had dragged Achelois through. At the edge, she unfurled her sailor wings and took flight, searching for the pair.

In this clearer light she could see that the unfamiliar shape was a sea urchin, obviously one impacted by the dark energy of the Chaos seed they sought. The burning feeling in her hand was worse now, and she was having a hard time moving her fingers. Sailor Nocturnus grabbed the staff with her other hand, prying the swelling fingers loose, and gave her wrist a shake to dislodge the creature into the watery depths below.

"Achelois! Your staff...!" she alerted them, approaching. She tried not to look like she was in pain.

Her attack found its target, but the shark still would not die. Andromeda winced as it hit her with its powerful body. She tried a second jab with her blade, attempting to finish it off.

No sooner had she sent Oceans Grace towards Achelois than the shark that she had hit earlier attacked Andromeda. This entire mission was pandemonium. Seeing the senshi injured, she drew more water from her pouch before capping it and returning it to its resting place. Halberd in hand, she twirled it as she brought it up above her head, using all of her strength she brought it down over the shark, intending to slice it in half.  Hopefully the shark would let go.

Achelois felt her skin finally closing, the bleeding stopping, her breathing still was heavy but she could take care of that with her staff.  She could tell that Sedna had a hand in helping her as well, she made a mental note to thank the senshi later.  She felt Enya breathe in deeply and smiled up at the copper eyes staring back down at her.  The armored hand moved over her abdomen where the wound had been, her muscles twitched in response, almost as if she had been tickled.  Achelois let out her own breath after hearing Enya laugh, glad that the situation had recovered.  She feared what would happen to Enya if something worse than this happened to herself.  

She kept her arm wrapped around Enya's neck but allowed the hand now moving over her face to turn her eyes back to the ones looking so relieved.  She made no effort to leave the arms where she felt so safe, instead using her free hand to brush a few strands of Enya's hair back.  She knew that they needed to get back to the battle, but Enya's admonishment reaffirmed that she needed to make sure that Enya wasn't too negatively affected by what happened. "I'm sorry... thank you" was the only thing she could say, her voice a low whisper, a soft smile decorated her face.  There was so much more that she wanted to say, but she didn't know how.  There was no one like Enya to her, and there was no one who worried her like Enya.  There must be so many things passing through her mind, and Achelois wanted to assuage all her partner's fears.  But now was not the time...

Achelois turned her head to see Nocturnus coming towards them, her staff in the young Senshi's hand. She turned to give Enya one last quick hug before flying on her own fully, though she kept one hand on Enya's forearm, reluctant to let go so soon.  Achelois reached for her staff, taking it from Nocturnus, and saw marks on her arm.  She would need to ask her about that when they weren't losing a battle.  She focused for a second, allowing her planet's energy to flow through and over her.  She smiled confidently at Nocturnus before turning back to Enya, "We need to go back in there, ready?"

Heals:

Satisfied that her hit had indeed killed the shark - she was sorry to see it dead, but sometimes she had to do what was necessary - she sent the water that was waiting over to Andromeda, placing it as close as she could get to the senshi's wounds. Hopefully this would be enough to keep the senshi from bleeding out before they could get the shark off of her and heal her more properly. 

Heals:

DM wrote:

Achelois heals herself (2 MP) for 10 HP

EXP
Achelois gains 10 exp

Achelois has 17 out of 30 exp towards level 3

Achelois's easy smile and soft movements helped her refocus, to move forward; things were under control again. Achelois was fine, and she would continue to be fine - Enya would see to that. As she apologized, her soft voice just above a whisper, Enya chuckled again, realizing how ridiculous it was that Achelois was apologizing for being hurt and worrying her. She was a mess. She had enjoyed Achelois's touch, her soft fingers - clawed as her nails were - putting her hair back in place was reaffirmation that things were okay. 

She followed the bright green eyes as they moved back towards their home-made entrance to the spire and fell upon Nocturnus, flying dutifully towards them with Achelois's staff in hand, and was surprised but grateful for the hug she received from Achelois and returned the exchange, her hands brushing against the rough scales beneath Achelois's clothing briefly before the blonde turned away to address the young senshi, one hand still on her arm as the staff was returned and glowed with the healing energy of Achelois's planet. Everything was okay again. 

As the green-marked face turned back to her, glowing with health and inquiring in an almost teasing fashion about whether or not she was ready, Enya cracked her knuckles loudly in response, silently swearing to herself that if that shark were still alive, she would personally debone it. She was about to rush in when she realized she hadn't said a word to Nocturnus, and the young senshi had done brilliantly in retrieving and returning Achelois staff. With a smile just short of dazzling, her mood bright and eager, Enyalius put her hand gratefully on Nocturnus's shoulder. "Great job, little senshi," she enthused, and with a sly smile, added, "Now let's get in there and fillet some fish." 

She quickly but gently prized Achelois's hand from her arm, squeezing the hand with her own and letting go before she beat her wings harder, sending her upwards and around the pair, back into the Spire and the fight within.

Callisto winced in pain as the viperfish lashed out at her shield, though it was entirely mental. Even if it seemed like she was physically fine, each tine the barrier was struck, it came with its own wave of despair that washed over her.

It was all pointless, they'd die in this tower and Chaos would win. She should just drop her shield and give in now...


As a child, it had been difficult learning to ignore the thoughts that manifested as backlash, and even now it was a challenge. Taking a moment to steady her breath, she kept it up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nocturnus grab something from the floor and follow after Enyalius and Achelois, hopefully to help them. Another flash of moment caught her eye, and she saw Sedna trying to remove a shark from Andromeda. 

"If she's hurt, put her behind me..." she said, raising her voice enough to be heard by the other senshi.