In her attempt to use her ability to cause blindness, Clotho had not been paying enough attention to what her bound captive was doing. She could have been completely ensnared by the blonde woman's charms, a temporary slave to her, mind addled with thoughts of romance. Similarly, she would have been hit squarely by the attack from the vengeful Sailor Calliope. Instead, she felt her body shoved roughly out of the way, something she could have mistaken for an attack if not for the familiar glimpse of blood-red uniform and dark gray hair: Atropos!

She heard the energy rush at her eldest sister, but saw little. The veil fluttered back into place over her damaged eyes, and she could only scramble to her feet as she watched the young woman's body brace for impact, silently withstanding the agony. She wished there was something she could to do to help. She wanted to save Sailor Atropos the way the sword-bearing soldier had saved her, but she knew that she would not withstand the attacks with as much grace and dignity. Perhaps there was something else that she could...

That familiar chill settled in the very core of her bones.

Sailor Clotho did not need to look up to know that her mother had arrived. She could feel it. Even as a sailor soldier steeped in the darkness, servant to it, she felt it press upon her like a thick weight. Clotho could hear the wind fluttering through Sailor Chaos's hair and her dark-feathered wings. She felt the pressure of the woman's arrival. She knew where the piercing green eyes looked without having to observe them. The pink-haired girl dropped to a curtsy in Chaos's presence, although she did not turn her attention completely from the foolish soldiers of Cosmos. This would not be their moment to take advantage.

How could it be? Mother had arrived.

She felt that sorrow in her heart when the true form of the Hydra was revealed: a poor, battered human woman. Cosmos remembered other similar tactics from villains in battles past, reaching their claws and tendrils into the weaknesses of a person's heart, turning them away from the Light, corrupting them to act as vessels for Chaos. She felt sympathy and even empathy for this poor civilian, the same way she had felt it for so many others, civilian and sailor soldier alike. There would always be darkness present in the hearts of everyone—that was natural—but no one deserved to have it used against them in the morbid and abusive way that those against Light did.

There was little opportunity to try and provide peace for that wasted body or comfort for her surely-distressed teammates.

Sailor Cosmos felt the same atmospheric and emotional changes, although she braced herself neatly against them. This feeling echoed familiar; this was something she knew. It was like catching the scent of agarwood on the breeze and remembering the stillness of a funeral ceremony, the quiet sobs of mourners in her ears, conjured by the memory. The blue eyes looked up, finally, knowing what they would see: Sailor Chaos. Yes, it was precisely the form she expected.

The teasing, taunting words glanced off of the woman in white, her eyes fixed patiently on her shadowy counterpart. Sailor Cosmos did not feel fear when she gazed about Chaos; it had been a long time since that was her primary reaction. She understood things differently, now, having fought so long in this great war. Darkness and Light needed to be at balance if the universe was to be at peace. She did not wish to banish this force that opposed her, but she could not let it overtake as it intended to do, greedily covering all it could touch.

There was less tension now in her fingers as they held her staff. The long white cape billowed out behind her, her pigtails dancing alongside it. The sapphire eyes that met those of peridot no longer looked as weary as they had moments ago to her team—instead, they evoked a sense of serenity.

"I cannot," she replied, her voice soft although it easily could be heard across the battlefield. "I must continue as herald and beacon."

'Maybe I should've tried Lechesis first?'

This was the only thought slowly meandering through her mind as the blonde unsteadily picked herself up off the ground, her hands searching the broken concrete around her for her flute. It had to be alright - that's just how things needed to be. She was Euterpe, senshi of music and delight; she had to keep serving as a distraction and cheer people up and without her flute she'd be alright but not nearly as effective. Sure, she had been thrown through the air after seeing poor Clotho's milky unsettling eyes. Sure, she couldn't see anything anymore, and it stung and felt like she was bleeding in a few places and her uniform may have been torn when she scraped against the broken ground after someone's attack, but she wouldn't let herself be afraid. She hissed sharply as her fingers trailed against something sharp, and slowly, carefully she probed the object, brows furrowing over sightless eyes. Her heart thumped heavily.

It was her flute. 

She swallowed, tapping it lightly - or the pieces that were still intact - and gingerly picked it up. A ghost of a smile flitted across her face; she could almost still finger a scale before it broke off at the end. If it still had its mouthpiece, and if it didn't have the jagged hole by her right thumb, and if... but there were no ifs that could fix this. The Glass Flute was destroyed. She should've tried Lechesis first. Or offered to both at one time. 

Carefully she palmed a small, curved piece of glass and got one slippered foot beneath her, coming unsteadily to her feet so the others would know she was alright. Potentially bloody (their white attire kinda made blood stand out really well), but alright! Yeah, she couldn't see, but Mel's eyesight was bad, too! She'd make it, no problem! She just... had to figure out where they were now. 

Wherever that was, she was pretty sure that it wasn't where that feeling was. She froze as whatever it was arrived, the dread and fear foreign to her state of mind but they were emotions she remembered. The way that it sat uncomfortably in her chest, falling down to the pit of her stomach, eating away at her moment after moment - she knew that feeling. She had felt that the day her mother passed away, all the hours before. Fear, doubt, dread. But she knew how to fight it, too. 

Someone called to Cosmos. Cosmos called back. 

Euterpe sang.
"There comes a time," her voice was quiet but gaining, at first a soft tune on the wind.
"♪When you face the toughest of fights." This song was one that they all knew. Part of her wanted to walk towards Cosmos, but if Erato was still near the Fates she wouldn't leave her there alone. And maybe she'd get her sight back before too long.
"Searching for a sign♫
Lost in the darkest of nights," haha, with the heavy feelings the new arrival brought, the song kinda seemed to fit even better than she had anticipated, but the irony of her specific situation compared to the lyrics wasn't lost on her. Her confidence grew, her hand curling tighter around the cold piece of broken glass in her palm. 
"The wind blows so cold -
You're standing alone
Before the battle's begun♪," Okay, maybe it'd already started, but something about the gravitas of the new arrival made her think that everything up until then was but a precursor for the real deal. Especially for Cosmos.
"But deep in your soul
The future unfolds
As bright as the rays of the sun!" They had sung this together before, but never really while they fought. Part of her knew she was an idiot for doing this - Urania was probably rolling her eyes so hard right now and whomever had blasted her before may well blast her again - but it was her job to remind everyone of better times, and to her, the best of times was when they sang and played together. Even if she stopped singing right now, maybe they'd think back and feel stronger in the face of whatever was happening. They were on Cosmos's side - the side of light! They would win, they just had to remember how powerful that light can be!

Spoiler:

Sailor Chaos exhaled deeply. It was the sort of sound of a disappointed parent of a misbehaving child. Why can't things just be simple? Really?  She had done all this for her and still Cosmos was being a rather ungrateful brat.  Honestly, Chaos didn't know whether to destroy all of Cosmos's favorite planet right then or to let it linger and die with a whimper.  It was hard to tell which she would enjoy more that would wake the foolish girl up from her dream. 

"Herald? Beacon?"  Incredulous tone colored Sailor Chaos's words, "Of what, Cosmos? Destruction?  Are you my herald? As it seems to me, no matter where you think you go to-"  With her hands, leaning the spear in the crook of her arms, she made air quotes, "- "fight" me, you bring more destruction and death than you do save."   Again, she gestured to the dead woman below that had once been her lovely hydra and the dead soldier beyond.  "Look there, Cosmos. If you had only just paid more attention, you would've realized your folly in fighting!"

She laughed softly, coming closer to her, ignoring everything else for the moment, "No, dear light, you are the herald for death, that much is certain.  And-"

She stopped, hearing Euterpe starting to sing.  Her head tilted just a bit at it. What a charming, if annoyingly strange song.  Sailor Chaos wondered what purpose it served but that didn't matter. She couldn't hear herself speaking.  She turned her gaze back at Sailor Cosmos, and raised her hand again, pointing at the singing injured Soldier of Cosmos. 

Without much ado, she used less than half her power to blast the singing girl.  Though, on second thought, she may have used too much, but it didn't matter. 

"Children,"  Sailor Chaos said with an air of tired parental patience being tried, "Should be seen and not heard.  I'm having a conversation here, and you're being very rude."    Her brows rose, "Do you not train them in manners, Cosmos?"

attack:

It seemed that Calliope felt similarly to Urania - she actually giggled at her remark. 'Are thy hearts all full of fancy?' Well, that was the meaning that she would want to convey too, though as always, she had her own rather unique way of saying it. It probably wouldn't make any difference and they would continue alternating between fighting and pleading, or they might try doing both at the same time, but a little reaffirmation that she was not being unreasonable was nice.

The hydra eventually fell, which revealed that it had actually been a human woman. What kind of evil magic could create such a hideous monster out of a person? And why? Urania couldn't understand the entertainment they got from this whole suffering - she expected that Lachesis would start dancing on top of the dead body any second now - but she never believed that she would understand. She didn't try to. Things were what they were now and she just had to deal with the situation.

She could feel the next arrival before it even came, its aura darker than a starless night, its presence overwhelming. As it finally landed, it was apparent that it had the form of a sailor senshi, however even looking at her filled Urania with dread. Somehow, she seemed to be practically the opposite of Cosmos... And someone she knew? Urania listened to the conversation intently, trying to connect bits and pieces together. Who she is was clear enough, or at least in the more general sense - obviously she is a leader figure to the three sisters. But how exactly did Cosmos know her? And how well?

Their conversation was interrupted by... a song. Such timing. Urania barely managed to stifle a giggle again. Of course it had to be Euterpe. She was never going to learn.

It was a struggle to stand as Atropos struggled with not only her mind but now her body. Looking towards Erato, she swore internally that she would make her suffer. Only for her thoughts to switch to disgusting romantic fancies between her and those lovely blonde… She clamped her eyes shut, trying to fight against the spell. Her knees buckled momentarily and she managed to look towards Clotho, making sure she was alright.

Atropos gave her a faint smile, if only to reassure her that she would be alright and not to worry. Clotho had did well thus far, no need to scold her for her lack of action. She had done her part. She moved on to surveying the battlefield, still struggling to stand, to see how the Soldiers of Light were taking in the knowledge of what they had done.

However, she felt the same presence that everyone else had. The dark, sometimes frightening and absolutely wonderful presence.

Mother.

Several thoughts raced through her head, but she pushed them all aside. Now was not the time to worry. Atropos bowed to one knee and listened intently to whatever Mother had came to say, listening intently to the back and forth between her and Cosmos.

To her surprise, rather than cowering in fear, the one she had blasted away, to what she had thought unconsciousness, began singing. She almost wanted to laugh when Mother chided her. How quaint! She knew much better than to ever interrupt her.

Keeping her respectful bow, she waited for whatever it was Mother desired.

Erato hadn't even noticed that the hydra had been killed - she was too focused on her enemies. She was rather surprised when Atropos took the blasts in Clotho's place. Perhaps the sisters cared more for each other than Erato gave them credit, but that didn't change who they were and what they had done. Erato had made her offer, and they had shown her how they felt about it. 

For them, there didn't seem to be any turning back. 

Erato wanted to run to Euterpe's side, to save her, but she was still bound by this ridiculous string that seemed to be getting tighter every second. It became harder and harder to breath, and Erato judged by the blackening around her vision that she wasn't going to be able to take it for much longer. Erato turned her head to try and call for help from another one of her senshi, when she finally saw her.

Her aunt.

Her entire body seemed to grow rigid and cold - whether or not it was from the presence of Chaos or the reality of what had happened, she would never know. She could not take her eyes away from her aunt, the woman who had raised her since the deaths of her parents and taken every effort to help her become a woman of power and prestige. Her aunt, who had always kept Erato's best interest at heart, never letting her lose sight of what was truly important. Her aunt, who had put up with all of her partying and immaturity for so many years, only to remind her each and every day that she was loved and never alone.

Her aunt was gone. What else did she have to live for?

Pathetically, with no dignity left to hold onto, Erato turned to Clotho and fell onto her knees. "Please," she begged, her eyes full of tears and anguish, "Let me go to her. I don't care if you kill me after, just let me be with her. She's the only family I had left." Her voice came out in choked sobs, all of the losses for the day finally wearing her down. Themis was gone, her aunt was gone, Euterpe was hurt, and now Chaos was here to put it all to an end.

All Erato wanted was to spend her last moments with the only person left in this world who truly loved her.

Erato was now ensnared by Clotho after her offer of mercy fell on deaf ears, and Euterpe had taken an entire attack to herself. Calliope gritted her teeth in anger when her attack didn't hit it's intended target, as the Chaos Sister Atropos shield it and seemed unaffected upon being struck. Calliope went to aim another attack when the body of the Hydra began to shine-something no body of a fallen chaos being would ever do under any circumstances. As it shrunk, the true trickery of the Chaos Sisters was in plain sight.

A normal human woman, battered and clearly no longer drawing breath, was now in it's place. 

Calliope could feel her blood run cold-and she began to hear the cries of hundreds of people, begging for mercy, as they fell upon her blade in her quest for never-ending victorious combat. Seeing that she had been a part of what made this woman die dug up old memories that Calliope had spent decades of making music, traveling, and studying to bury. Though it would be rather hard to tell just by looking at her now; standing perfectly rigid, shoulders tense, her hands clutching the pillar of her harp so tight, her knuckles were turning white.

Her outward appearance changed little when the voice of the evillest of evils began to echo around the battlefield, though her pupils widened when chaos themselves-or rather, herself-morphed into this plane. In a sickeningly-human voice, she cooed to Cosmos-their light, their shining star-asking for her to join them. If Calliope was in a proper state of mind, she would have found this ironic. Her teammates were asking the exact same thing only moments earlier. 

And this is when Eutrope's singing, like a songbird sweetly bidding the night away, reached Calliope's ears. It was enough to shake her out of her stiffened stupor-and she noticed it had taken a concerning amount of time for Eutrope to get back up after that blast. Erato, still ensnared, had fallen onto her knees, begging to the Chaos Sister that had her life in her hands. 

Now back to the present and horrific reality, Calliope turned behind her and locked eyes with each her teammates adjacent to her and darted off for the other side of the battlefield, in an attempt to reach Sailor Erato and Sailor Eutrope. Whomever she would reach first, she would assist.

Calliope could only pray to the Galaxy Cauldron itself that she'd be able to rescue both.

Euterpe's voice cut through the tension, strange though its appearance was. Perhaps not so strange, considering the demeanor of the singer, but the timing was not opportune.

Worry tightened its grip around Melpomene's heart. For a moment, she'd noticed Euterpe's petal-soft blue aura come into existence to her empathic sight, and just as quickly, it disappeared as the song melted the aura away. Being unable to see Euterpe should have calmed at least a small portion of her worries. Instead, the way Euterpe fought those emotions made her a target, and as this powerful new dark being spoke, sending blackened energy towards Euterpe, Melpomene could already picture her dearest friend's broken body. The wilting of the flower that only knew joy.

She wanted to close her eyes to it all, but knew that was a naive gesture. It would not change anything. Even with eyes closed shut, she would still feel the emotions of her sisters. The razor sharp grief of Erato ashen embers was enough to sting her eyes with tears.

Melpomene blinked them back, accepting the shared pain but setting it aside. There was not much to be done for Erato, not even for Euterpe whom she could no longer see. Not by Melpomene herself in any case. She sensed Calliope darting ahead, and for a moment, Melpomene almost raced with her. To get to Euterpe's side.

Instead, she glanced to Thalia once more, willing her counterpart to be ready at a moment's notice. She did not know which to be the best target at the moment, with a new opponent on the battlefield, one that Cosmos had some strange connection. But their combined attack was a tool they needed to keep ready for when the battle truly began once more, and Melpomene could not give up her place until that tool had been deployed. No matter how her heart ached at the further separation of her sisters. No matter how much this relative quiet unnerved her to her very core.

For this battlefield was hanging upon a precipice. And soon they would all plummet from that dangerous edge, with no way to return.

Cosmos answered the mysterious figure calmly, not a trace of fear seeming to bother her, and Thalia didn't know how she did it. Even in the face of all this destruction, she didn't even struggle to stay within the light, to keep strong. The melodious sound of Euterpe's voice reached her, and she turned towards the singing soldier, grateful for the morale boost. She was about to join in - tone deafness be damned - when she heard the new enemy claim that Cosmos was a beacon of destruction. This wasn't true! Cosmos brought light wherever she went! She saved worlds. And none of it was pointless.

She could see Melpomene beside her, still ready to unleash an attack, and she briefly wondered if they should attack the newcomer. Lack of information had never stopped her before...

Across the battlefield, something seemed to have sapped all the fight out of Erato. She was saying something about... the only family she had left? It couldn't have been... that woman, could it?

Thalia's eyes glazed over as she thought about what this meant. Had she and the others helped kill Erato's only family? Despair threatened to swallow her once more, and she desperately clawed herself towards light, forcing herself to focus on Sailor Cosmos. The beacon of light for them all. The last hope this world had.

"Cosmos...? Who is she?" she asked of the new unknown enemy.

Sailor Lachesis was overjoyed at the revaluation. Her heel caused blood to drip from the corpse of Sailor Erato's aunt. Her cackle pierced the silence like a great roar of thunder. "You killed her, the strength of your convictions was all for nothing!!

Continuing to laugh she kicked the body. Not like it could feel anything anyways. Noticing Atropos bow, Lachesis wished she could be the one they were bowing to. She did most of the work anyways - her thought process. 

She bowed towards her mother. And immediately stood up to face the Cosmos soldiers. "Is this what you've fought for? Cosmos leading you into destruction?! Why don't you give up?" The beady eyes scanned the Muses. They were all fools. Couldn't they see Cosmos was the reason for everything? 

"Sailor Cosmos!" Lachesis spoke with a tone that was like her mother's, harsh and booming. "How many more lives will be taken by your very hand? Dozens? Thousands? Tell me soldiers, can you really not see the reason for your despair is this woman!?

She turned to her mother again. Chaos won't let anyone else be sacrificed, not like your hypocrit wench!"

Lachesis was ready for the onslaught of tomfoolery that would soon come her way. Talks of 'friendship' and other useless things. She also prepared for her ears to bleed with that horrible wailing that spouted from the hippie girl. It was becoming more enraging than fun. She wanted to just kill them all right there, no matter who got in her way. She had her fists clenched so hard against her palms they started to bleed from the force of her nails. Not like it was painful. For a fleeting moment Sailor Lachesis thought about ending everyone then and there. But Mother.... she had to follow mother.

Chaos acted swiftly, but so could Cosmos. After all, would it really be so unbelievable that they might have some things in common, despite representing two things so opposed? Dark energy that headed towards Euterpe, the young woman outside of the barrier Cosmos tried to use to keep her teammates safe, but an appropriate ration of her Lambda power provided a brief and temporary shield. She would deflect it, protecting the sweet song of the wavy-haired blonde who still tried to rally their spirits. Even in doing so, however, the blue eyes never left her observation of Sailor Chaos; the woman in white lacked the ease and casual attitude of her shadow.

It was clear that this was not a conflict they could resolve with conversation. Nor was Sailor Cosmos so distraught and downtrodden as to swallow the bait of her tormentor—she knew that the destruction and death had not been her doing. She had seen what happened to those who surrendered and pledged themselves to Chaos. They might survive slightly longer; they might think that they were going to be alright. They might believe they had made a trade that they could live with. Cosmos had been there when their borrowed time elapsed. The Darkness that Sailor Chaos desired to shroud the universe in would never bless the living things that Cosmos sought to protect.

The most rambunctious of those who followed this emissary of oblivion continued the taunt, but the spark in Cosmos's heart was not extinguished. Terrible things had happened—this was certainly true—but she had never tipped the weights forward that set the machine in motion. She had to continue trying to resist. She had to do whatever she could to brace herself against the balances settled so decidedly not in her favour. Her hands gripped her staff, her mind desperately trying to calculate her next move.

She answered Thalia's question, realizing that these poor soldiers had not faced this entity before.

"This is Sailor Chaos," the gentle voice replied, her voice sorrowful but her eyes still clear and sharp. "The force behind the end of everything we have tried to safeguard."

Sailor Cosmos wondered if any of those who stood with her now would see their plight in the light Lachesis cast on it. Surely they had been present for enough battles to understand that Chaos and her forces did not offer mercy or embrace. The planets that had been destroyed and tainted no longer resembled the peaceful natural worlds they had been before. Still... she knew that this was difficult. She couldn't fault them if they wavered in their faith. Hadn't she felt similarly? Yet, there was no other choice. There were no other paths for her.

"I cannot support the future you envision," she replied to Sailor Chaos. She could have sworn she had echoed these words before, or at least heard them spoken by another.

The string wrapped around Sailor Erato disappeared.

Was it intentional? Had Clotho been moved by the girl's impassioned plea, by the woman in pink's tears and the words that begged? Her head remained bowed, her attention and pose seemingly focused entirely on Sailor Chaos as the long-haired woman floated above, addressing that foolish "bringer of light", the one sailor soldier who had managed to get in their way so many times before.

Or was it merely part of the pink-haired minion's usual abilities? Her binding attack could not be held indefinitely. She had to recast if she wished to keep an enemy bound for an extended period of time, using more energy in the process, and those reserves were finite. Had she done enough, then? Was this just the natural way for things to progress?

Without a way to see Clotho's face or expression, especially considering the veil that interfered, it was impossible to be sure, one way or another.

Erato was shocked when the string around her disappeared. She clutched her chest, heaving in large gulps of air, glad to be free of the binding. She looked to Clotho, a silent thank-you in her eyes, before she plucked a few strings on her lyre and disappeared. She stumbled as she stood, feeling dizzy and exhausted as her body ached with pain. But she moved anyway, her steps quiet despite her disoriented state. Her eyes were glued to Lachesis, watching the hideous monster dig her heel into her aunt's body. Erato's tears hadn't ceased flowing since she first laid eyes on her dead aunt, staining the pure white fabric of her fuku.

She was only a few steps away from Lachesis and her aunt; as she got closer, she felt her heart begin to race. Not because she was afraid of Lachesis, but because with every step, she also grew closer to Chaos. The woman's very presence gave Erato a deep, unsettled feeling, as if she was being held at gunpoint but had no idea if the gun was loaded.

All she had to do was attack Lachesis, grab her aunt, and run. But in that moment, time seemed to slow, and Erato could hear her heart pounding in her ears. If she went for this, if she tried to attack Lachesis, it might backfire. She could miss, and Chaos could attack her, and then she would be dead without ever getting to say goodbye to her aunt, without ever getting to give her one last parting hug. Or she could run away, grab Euterpe, and lead the injured senshi back to the safety of the team. Frantic, Erato looked from her aunt's pale figure to the struggling form of Euterpe.

She knew what her aunt would want her to do. With one last parting tear, Erato whispered, "Goodbye," before sprinting to Euterpe's side. Taking Euterpe's arm, Erato slung it around her shoulders and began to try and pull her back towards Melpomene. "Come on, you dork," she said quietly, letting Euterpe know it was her. "I can't design your wedding dress if you get blasted to bits by some gothic wannabe."

Attack:

Sailor Chaos's lips pursed in displeasure.  This had not gone as she had envision with Cosmos finally seeing sense to the natural order of things- but it was just as well.  In truth, it would've been too easy to crush the women that surrounded her little light who was too stubborn to see that she was the one dragging this play along. 

It was not Sailor Chaos's fault that things ended up the way it did.  Not hers at all, but the simple byproduct of trying to get Cosmos to return to her side.  Perhaps, even for her to devour the light within the other. 

Was that truly such a terrible thing to ask?  Surely not. 

Still, she cared little that her blast was deflected, or that her 'daughter' was making such a racket- honestly, she'll have to discipline her soon.  Lachesis, while delightful in her taunts and sadistic tendencies, could also be a source of annoyance when she got carried away.  


"You have no choice."  Sailor Chaos nearly purred watching her with a satisfied smile, " No matter how much you struggle, little light, you will eventually see."  

Then, suddenly, as if the mood was a wind in change, Sailor Chaos landed, deadening things around her as she turned her back to survey the land then raised her spear.  Her smile grew into a truly girlish grin as she turned back to Sailor Cosmos.


"However, that is neither here nor there!" She said with cheer that seemed so out of place with the dead space around them, "I invite you all to come for a play date, if you will."

Without further ado, a black space opened above, sucking all but the Chaos-inclined deep within.  "Well, of course, you'll have to find your way through but don't worry! It'll be fun, I promise!"

Where had she teleport them? A place- a cathedral like palace of darkness. 

With that done, Sailor Chaos said to the sisters of Fate, her voice light and airy but carried with it a heat of warning, "Girls, I want you to rest then make sure our guests feel at home."   She turned her head to look at the three, green eyes landing on each of them, "And if I find you have been...less than generous in your dealings with them, I will not be happy with you- understood?"

The implication was clear:  If they did not do their best to kill the Cosmos Soldiers, they would not escape her wrath this time.

She paused, once more, allowing herself to float up slightly, "Leave Sailor Cosmos alive. She is mine." She said with a tone of possessiveness to it.

With that, she vanished, expecting her 'daughters' to follow back to their home.

As she listened to Erato's pleas, she realized that this was no ordinary woman. Her last relative? Right. That's what they wanted to do then. Urania clenched her fists - if it had been Orion...

It couldn't be helped. The outcome would have been the same, no matter what she did. Sooner or later.

As Thalia asked Cosmos about the new arrival, Urania instinctively moved to her side, before she tried to do anything stupid like attack her by herself, or join in Euterpe's song, or anything worse. Sailor Chaos. So she did know her. Why had she not told them about her until now?

Before Urania could process her thoughts further, however, the dark woman invited them for a 'play date', as a dark portal opened up in the sky and sucked them within, completely unable to resist.

Quote :

When the Cosmos senshi can see next, they realize they have been transported to a new, unfamiliar place. Each senshi will find themselves in a different room, separated from each other and alone. There is nothing but darkness surrounding them. If they managed to find the door out of their room, they will only find a maze and more rooms with no way to tell which way is which. And the longer they are there, the more they feel uncomfortable and begin thinking about their deepest fears...

Note: The Fates can be wherever they please, feel free to pick a senshi to toy with or something! If you want to talk among yourselves first in your own room that's fine too.

Calliope could have cried in relief when Sailor Cosmos managed to free Erato before she could draw her final breath. She managed to reach them both, and immediately placed herself on the other side of Eutrope in order to help steady her.

"Is thy alright? Can thee move?" Calliope meant that question for both of them. While it was clear that Eutrope was the more injured of the two, Erato had been at the mercy of Clotho's string for much too long. She was more then ready to carry them both across the threshold, and positioned herself to do so, when suddenly the wind started to pick up. And it kept getting faster.

Calliope could feel herself lifting off the ground, and lowered herself in an attempt to stay grounded, her arms on her injured comrades. It proved to be of little help, and she gripped at the harp in an attempt to play a tune to assist them, when the wind got even worse. Calliope gave a cry of shock as the harp was ripped from her hands and sucked down into the dark abyss that had appeared in the sky-like a dangerous and foreboding eye of the storm.

That cry would be her undoing. In that brief moment of distraction caused by the loss of her weapon, she stood up in an attempt to catch it-and was briskly swept away from Erato and Eutrope. 

The last thing Calliope would remember was calling their names before everything went dark.

No one else joined in, but that was okay! Before she could start the chorus, however, the creeping presence spoke, chiding her, though it sounded somewhat muffled to her ears. She didn't quite understand that, as mere moments later the sounds were crystal clear, as was Lachesis's following remarks. She grit her teeth against them, turning to face the general direction of the booming voice of the bruised girl, and gripped her naked hand around the small shard of what had been her flute. "Cosmos isn't taking lives and causing destruction, you are! The dead are not on her hands but on yours, no matter how you try to shift the blame. She is light and life and hope and even after everything you have done, she would still forgive you, Lachesis! Still she would offer you peace! We Muses do not despair because we know hers is the side that we believe in. Can you say the same?!" 

Her arm was taken and at first she resisted, not knowing who was on the other side of that pull, but at hearing Erato's voice she quickly eased into it and raced back with her, trusting that if she tripped and fell on unseen debris Erato would not leave her behind. "Like I would get married," Euterpe replied with a laugh, the smile clear through her words, "But you can make me a dress anyway!" Someone joined them, and by the 'thy' she figured it was Calliope, which was nice of her! 

As they crossed the space between Fates and Muses, that horrible being must have landed, as a shiver seemed to travel through the pavement beneath Euterpe's feet as she ran with Erato. The voice of Sailor Chaos seemed cheerful, and at first she was relieved - evil can't be peppy, right? - but any invitation that ended with the Fates making someone feel at home wasn't an invitation she'd RSVP 'yes' to. But she didn't exactly get the chance to turn the invitation down, as gravity seemed to reverse - honestly a weird feeling when you couldn't see up or down - and landed in a sprawl ... somewhere. 

At least the ground was smooth beneath her feet!

She sat up, making a small displeased noise as the blood that had dried on her fuku and stuck to her scrapes moved and ripped open whatever small wounds had closed. It was quiet, like she was alone, but still she ventured, "Where are we?", remaining still just in case something was there that she'd need to see to get around. How did Mel manage like this???

Before she knew it, Mother had sucked up Sailor Cosmos and her team of Sailor Soldiers up and away from the battlefield. She stood, staring at the spot in the sky that had once been a strong gravitational force on the team.

So she was sending them there. Home. How interesting! She knew Lachesis would thoroughly enjoy playing with those infuriating soldiers almost immediately. Mother addressed the three of them and all Atropos could manage out was a "Yes, Mother" accompanied with a quick small bow. Then, Mother was gone. There wasn't much time for talk before they followed suit, but Atropos spoke up briefly.

"I'd like to plan on how we handle our new play things, but somehow I doubt you're up for that, Lachesis," she said, eyeing her sister levelly.

"So why don't you just go ahead and pick one or two or however many you want and play with them to your hearts content?" she continued, gesturing nonchalantly and giving her a small smile. Hopefully, that would appease the girl's blood lust and keep her behavior in line. Her outbursts were bound to get her in trouble soon. Mother had limited patience after all.

"Clotho, you're with me," she said, more authority in her voice than intended, her voice softened some, "Let's meet in our room."

Clotho had done well in the battle and thankfully was not hurt. If only she had just reacted in time earlier...but that was no matter. They could talk and plan together. Praise was what worked best with Clotho and she would be sure to give some when it was earned. With her piece said, Atropos took off and disappeared just as Mother had

Sailor Chaos? This was what they'd been fighting against? Chaos was... a senshi? Thalia stared in disbelief at the menacing figure in front of them. Of course, all the other enemies they had battled up to this point were senshi as well, but as she understood it, they were not true senshi. They did not have proper Sailor Crystals. The crystals were either stolen or corrupted... so how did Chaos get its hands on one? Whose life had she ripped away to grant her this insulting form? Up until now, they had never faced Chaos herself. They had faced many of her incarnations and minions and generals, but... to finally have her in the battlefield, and in the form of a senshi too... The tide of battle had never seemed so against them.

Maybe Chaos had only ever wanted to be one of them. Maybe that was why she was taking this form, and so had her generals...

Thalia's thoughts were cut short when she was suddenly transported against her will. She tried to reach out towards her sisters, but could not find even Melpomene, who was right beside her.

The next moment, she landed roughly on a hard floor, but still could not see anything. She scrambled to stand up, holding her hands out to find something, anything. "Girls...?" she called out. "Melpomene? Urania? Euterpe? Cosmos...? Can you hear me?"

The isolation was immediately giving her anxiety. She was only able to keep carrying on all this time because she always had someone by her side. She had Melpomene at first, and then the others. She was never alone. Alone was unthinkable. Alone was... the box in the corner of her mind she never cared to open.

Alone was death.

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At the moment if anyone tries to speak, they will be able to hear each other, though not know where they are, or know if the voices are really from their friends or illusions/tricks of Chaos. However, no one can hear Thalia.

The reaction of her counterpart, shrouded in black and armor in contrast to Cosmos' white and ribbons, did not surprise her. She knew better than to expect Chaos to understand her point of view. Was that not what had caused all of this, in a way? Surely if they were going to reach some kind of peaceful accord it would have happened long before this, before so many planets had suffered and fallen to such heart-wrenching devastation. Sailor Cosmos felt that sense of futility weighing on her heart again, her blue eyes surveying the horrible things that had been done to this place she treasured. She doubted there was anything she could have said, now or ever, that would have been enough to turn Chaos from this path.

If that was the case, how could she hope to win?

She let these thoughts distract her a moment too long. Chaos landed, the woman's heels clicking against the broken pavement, and raised her menacing spear. Cosmos tightened her grip on her own staff, moving towards a defensive posture, eyes astute. Whatever the dark one might have planned, she had to be ready to respond—

Her body slammed into the ground, the jolt sudden and unsettling. Cosmos clambered to her feet, sliding terrified against the unfamiliar smooth, polished surface. Her eyes darted around, panic rising at the abrupt change in locale. No longer was she on Earth, surrounded by her team and facing her opponents. This faceted room, lacking doors and windows, seemed small enough to make it clear that was she was alone, but the way the obsidian walls reflected light spiked confusion in her heart as she caught glimpses of her own uniform and wondered if the other sailor soldiers were near her.

Sailor Cosmos staggered backwards, pressing her back against the cool solid surface. She took deep breaths, trying to center herself and find her balance once again. She held her staff with both hands, if only to keep them from shaking. She knew that this was some trick of Chaos, nor was this the first time she had experienced isolation. That did little to calm her frantic heartbeat or settle her fluttering nerves, not in this instance. She thought of cheerful Euterpe, bold Calliope, sunny Thalia, solemn Melpomene, vibrant Erato, and calm Urania... How would they fare in this place?

Almost as if to answer her unspoken question, she suddenly heard Euterpe, the voice echoing and faded, as if heard across a great distance: "Where are we?"

Were they safe? What did this mean? Was this an illusion?

"Y-yes, Mama," Clotho stuttered, unable to maintain the stoic expression if forced to reply. She knew what was being asked of her; this was a particular type of "generosity" that their dear Mother expected. Her throat felt tight, and drawing each breath took an extra level of concentration. The pink-haired girl clenched her hands into tight fists, trying to will herself not to quiver and betray her true feelings about their task. She would have preferred to let Atropos and Lachesis handle the sailor soldiers, maybe while she huddled in a corner and covered her ears. She would not be so lucky.

She finally looked up when Atropos began addressing Lachesis. Although her vision remained as fuzzy and indistinct as always, she knew that Mother and those sailor soldiers in white had disappeared—waiting at home, clearly. Sailor Clotho gave a nod when Atropos issued instructions to her. At least she'd be with one of her sisters. That would make it better, right?

She didn't really feel like it would.

Clotho shuddered, wrapping her arms around her chest as she stared up at the darkening sky. She couldn't run. There was nowhere to go. This was the very last place. She took a deep breath and followed suit, heading back to Mother's fortress.

The first sensation Calliope would feel upon returning to conscious was cold hard ground. The second, a dull ache throbbing throughout her forearms and knees, presumably due to how she landed. She sat up slowly, groaning as her limbs protested against any movement. Teleportation was never one of Calliope's preferred methods of travel-she often liked to take the long way simply to revel in the sights she'd miss if she did-but abrupt teleportations were the worst; especially when they resulted in abrupt and sudden landings. 

As she opened her eyes, she was alone. Nothing but darkness seemed to meet her gaze as long as she let it travel. Her body immediately kicked into fight-or-flight as she braced herself, swirling around expecting enemies to morph out of the darkness at any moment.

Yet none came. Calliope allowed herself to relax the slightest bit as she heard a voice. It was Eutrope.

"Brus'd and scrapped, but good now regardless." Calliope announced as she began to try to find her way around. "Let me hear thy voices, so that I may reach you! Announce yourselves, so thee can be accounted for!"

This wasn't the first time Calliope had been cast into a dark shell of a prison, and it was certainly not bringing any good memories. Thankfully, Calliope managed to find her harp. She picked it up off the ground and hugged it to her chest as she strained her ears to hear her companions.

The sooner she'd be out of here, the better she'd be for it.

"Yes, Mother." Lachesis looked back over to Atropos. "You're actually going to let me have somem fun. Urania is mine." She licked her lips, not only was the girl extremely attractive to Sailor Lachesis, she wanted to see what would happen, if the arrow would actually strike her. She also found much pleasure in Sailor Erato. "Let me kill the hydra's niece."

She was actually quite pleased that Atropos was going to let her have her way. It was more fun this way, and she wouldn't have to listen to Sailor Clotho's constant whining. "Leave it to me." Lacheisis turned into a form of pure black energy, in the form of a serpent and disappeared back to the place Mother wanted them to be.

Standing at the doors of Chaos' mansion, she waited for the perfect time to strike. Visions of the one called Sailor Urania appeared in her mind. She wanted to hear her scream. What was this feeling. Was this one of hatred? It most likely was, that's all she ever knew.

With Sailor Clotho and Atropos paired up, she was on her own, just how she liked it. Closing her eyes she listened for the sound of the soldiers she had chosen. She didn't want to keep mother waiting.

Lachesis's words about Chaos held no power over Melpomene. She could clearly understand the angle that the Chaos Senshi aimed for, but it would not work, at least not for the Senshi of Tragedy. Death was not only a result of darkness. Death held no bonds to anything other than its inevitability.

These words would not cause a waver in Melpomene's beliefs or convictions, but she did worry what turmoil they may cause to the others. Someone with a more innocent view of things might find their focus waver at the blunt truth of Lachesis's statement.

Melpomene would make certain to keep an eye on her sisters' auras, readying her Catharsis Aria in case someone needed help.

Cosmos identified the new enemy as being a Sailor Chaos, her voice as ever calm and gentle. But there was no time to ponder the connection between the two forces. No time to take in their opposite and conflicting auras that seemed to emanate and absorb everything around them in equal turn.

Melpomene could not see the teleportation that Sailor Chaos summoned, but she could feel the shift in the battlefield. She could feel the way she was transported to someplace new.

Her feet hit the floor with little grace, but many years of practice helped her to keep her balance. It was dark, so dark that she could not even make out the blurriest of shapes. Disconcerting, but not all that worrisome. She closed her eyes to rid herself of the disorienting feeling and sought out the auras of her sisters first.

She felt nothing.

Melpomene's eyes opened to the darkness in surprise but even then, she could see nothing. No familiar sunset, no petal-soft blue, honey yellow, or sparkled cobalt. The earlier painful ashes of Erato's embers were gone to her. She couldn't even feel Cosmos, whose blinding brightness reached magnificent lengths and always warmed her heart.

Nothing.

Melpomene drew in deep breaths to calm the panic rising in her chest. This didn't mean they were all dead–but it could happen. They could have simply been separated–but what if they weren't?

She couldn't lose all of them in one fell swoop.

But what if she had? She was not naive. It could happen. To some people, it did happen. Had happened. Would happen again. Death did not care if you loved your sisters more than anything else in all of existence. Death did not care if you loved a bright white entity greater than yourself.

Death came for all, in the end.

Panic gripped at her more strongly, and she fought with herself to quell it. A losing battle, as she knew how strong their opponents were. But to lose them all... How would anyone survive such a thing?

A small voice, familiar and sweet, cut through the darkness, through the growing panic. She'd recognize Meela's voice anywhere, its cheerful warmth the most instant way she recognized her friend, and Melpomene drew in a shaking breath. Cosmos's voice came after, calm though faded, and Melpomene felt her heart begin to mend a little more. Calliope was next. Too voices were missing, and it hurt her, to be unable to feel any of their auras, but at least they lived.

"I am here as well," she answered, "though I do not know where I am." Her voice sounded weaker than she'd meant it, but the feeling of being truly blind was getting to her, crawling under her skin. She took solace in her sisters, in Cosmos, at every single moment. What would she do without them near? "Is everyone okay? I... I can not sense any of you."

She ignored the idea that this was all a trick of her mind, in a selfish attempt to ward off grief for a few moments longer.

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Sailor Calliope suddenly senses another presence close to her, and a figure that looks identical to herself, except lacking any love or compassion on her expression, steps out of the darkness to smile at her.

One moment, Erato and Calliope were helping Euterpe to get to safety, and the next, everything was black. Had she been made blind too? The atmosphere was different - the familiar smell of Earth was gone, and she couldn't hear anything going on around her. Had she been moved to an entirely different place? Hesitantly, Erato walked a few steps forward with her arms outstretched, her fingertips brushing against a cold, hard wall. She was about to continue moving along the wall, when she heard Euterpe's voice echoing around her. Frantically, she spun, trying to locate the source of the voice. "Euterpe!" she called, desperate to hear her voice again. Euterpe's voice was followed by Calliope and Melpomene's, and Erato felt a wave of relief. Even though she didn't know where they were, she was grateful to know that they were alive.

"Cosmos, are you there? What's going on?" Erato called again. In an attempt to see where she was going, Erato concentrated some of her magic into her hands, causing them to glow a faint pink color. It was faint, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately for Erato, the room seemed to suck any light away, and Erato's magic was rendered useless.

She wasn't quite smart enough to consider that maybe all of this wasn't even real.

Following the little teleportation trick of the one called "Sailor Chaos", Urania found herself in a room full of darkness. She was unable to see anything -- or anyone. She tried to feel her way around the walls; eventually, she would reach an opening, only to walk into another pitch black room.

She closed her eyes as she leaned against one of the dark cold walls, took a deep breath and attempted to concentrate. Now was not the time to panic. Everything would work out. She had made her best to make it certain that it would, hadn't she?

Eventually, several voices reached her ears. While she could still not see them, she could hear the other girls calling out to one another, confirming that they were fine for the most part, apparently. But that did not matter much to her at the moment, as the voice she desperately wanted to hear the most was still uncharacteristically silent.

"Thalia? Where are you? Can you hear me?"

Sailor Chaos stood before her screen, which was split in several different ways as she watched them all with an air of thoughtfulness.  Her girls would be on their best behaviors, she was sure of it. After all, one can't be a good hostess without personally greeting her guests.  Her eyes kept flickering to Cosmos, finally having her little light where she wanted her.  Maybe this time it'll convince the wayward one to come back to the fold that she left?

A sudden, seldom felt, sharp pain ran through her chest area where the Chaos crystal sat snug in the seemingly empty hole that was there.  She exhaled slowly, a hand over it as her eyes narrowed, looking down for a moment.  Damn thing was stubborn too.  Though seldom seen as felt, there was from time to time a ghost of what once was that flickered to life.  It couldn't do anything, of course.  That light- that energy that fueled it- was completely and utterly swallowed by darkness. Merged into her power so completely, it was doubtful she could even undo it. 

But, it was still there.  The memories that made no sense to Sailor Chaos lingered like a faint perfume. 

"You, too, failed to achieve the great power promised to you by the light." The memory of her 'voice', which was not truly a voice. There were no real words spoken but a feeling that was conveyed, echoed in her mind.  "It failed you, little star. I shall not."


"And I will become more?" The tiny light that had failed to achieve its' destined role, still shone so brightly. Dazzlingly within the haze that was the Cauldron. 


Darkness instantly surrounded it. Swallowing the light, merging with it, "Oh yes," her 'voice' changed. Mutated into something else as everything concentrated on this great effort.  "So much more."

Sailor Chaos snapped out of it, then gazed back up at Cosmos. That light that should've been hers- will be hers. The one that left her alone all alone. The reason for the lights that blaze painfully and forgot the ones that did not. She did not understand why they hated her lovely darkness so.  What was wrong with it? It was calm, cool, and without fear or conflict. 

Light brought that. Light tore asunder her quiet empty empire of darkness where things writhe in peace under her cloak of power. Light destroyed more than it created.  And light, fought futility against what was destined. 

They were destined to come back to each other. Destined to be together. 

"Why can't you see that?" She whispered, almost brokenly, but it didn't matter.  Once she saw- once Sailor Cosmos saw the way she did, she would know that this would not end. Not until she gave up this ridiculous notion of being a 'beacon'.    Sailor Chaos snorted, laughing softly to herself, "Foolishness. Such foolishness, little light."

And she would show her how much of a fool she had been.  The screen disappeared from Sailor Chaos's throne room and reappeared in the prison were she kept Sailor Cosmos. Giving the other a view of her soldiers, which even included sound, this time.  Then, she also faded from her room to that prison, but stayed to the shadows, lingering there to enjoy the look upon the other's face. 

At least, until she stepped out, quietly.  

"Welcome to my home, my dear light." Sailor Chaos purred, her green-cat-like eyes settled upon her.  "Do you like it? I made it just for you. I knew you'd just love the look, you see. "