If she hadn’t stayed out for an extra sparring session, she never would have seen the fireball. It was early. Only two of the three suns had risen and the subdued glow turned everything a shade of pink. The sound of clashing swords and quarterstaffs echoes I the large courtyard as old guards trained new guards and Ciaran trained her.

“You’re not focused Desert Rose! You need to look at all angles. An opponent is not going to sit calmly in front of you and throw attacks!” He chided, pulling out a sneak attack with his staff that had thrown her off balance enough that she landed, rather ungracefully, on her rear end.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, she began clambering to her feet. She rolled her eyes, looking up to the sky as she tried to release the frustration she felt at always falling for his sneak attacks. Her eyes widened to green pools. There was something in the sky and it was moving. It was large, fiery, and descending at a rapid rate. Her stomach churned as she realized it was heading straight for the castle.  The practice staff fell from her hands, clattering onto the ground with what sounded like an ear splitting thud. There were muffled cries now from the other trainees but they were too slow…far too slow in reacting.

With a strangled cry she leapt to her feet and began to really and truly run, pushing her feet as fast as she could until the blood pounded in her ears and her breath was a raging fire in her lungs. She knew where her sister was. She was in the side room off from the throne room preparing herself for a clan meeting. There was no way she would see it coming. Desert Rose tore into the palace, shoving people in the direction of the door as she ran. As she reached the small side office she only had time to scream her sisters’ name and throw the princess to the ground, shielding her sister with her body as the roof caved in with an earth shattering roar and the crackling of flames. They tumbled, as the floor below also gave way and Desert Rose felt her body slam into something hard and everything went black.

“Eirinn…” came a whispered, tentative voice. “Eirinn?” The soft voice drifted in the void contrasting oddly with the silence. It became more insistent. “Eirinn!”

She opened her eyes, wondering dazedly why this voice knew her name, her real name. Her eyes were open, yet she could not see anything. Reaching up a hand, she felt hard stone just a foot or so above her head. Realization came swiftly. The attack…Aya! Squirming around despite her body’s painful protests she turned on to her stomach and reached her arms out, flailing and feeling around with quick desperate motions. “Aya….Aya I’m here! Are you alright?”

A pair of smooth hands caught hers, squeezing hard. “Oh, thank the suns! I was so afraid you were going to leave me alone down here…” The voice of her sister cracked with emotion. “I am alright, but I think I am pinned. I – I’m sure rescue will come soon.”

Eirinn wrapped her hand around the stone around her neck. If she focused hard enough in it, it would emit a soft glow. The soft rose colored glow was enough to let her eyes adjust. Apparently transformed, her body must have absorbed the majority of the heat and protected her from the stones coming down. She had bruises on her arms at least and a myriad of other places were sore. Somehow in the process she had de-transformed but she did not feel any serious injury and she could move, not that there was much room to move around. She slipped the necklace off and reached forward with the glowing stone to look at her sister. It did appear that she was partly pinned, at least by the edges of the pink silk dress sticking out of the stone, but Eirinn was relieved to hear her sister was unharmed.

“Eirinn…you’re bleeding!” Eirinn’s sister reached out a hand to touch her forehead, her fingertips coming away with drops of blood. The look of worry on her sister’s face made Eirinn’s heart skip a beat. Her sister, who was always so kind and calm, so graceful like a true princess should never have that worried look.

Eirinn smiled. She would do or say anything to make that worried look flee from her sister’s eyes. She chuckled. “You think this is bleeding? We used to get worse when we climbed the thorny aoco trees back home to get the sweet fruits, remember? A little cut like this is nothing.” Didn’t her sister realize? It’s my job to bleed for you, whether you like it or not Aya. It’s my job if necessary even to die for you. How am I going to manage that when you can’t even stand to see me get a cut? She blinked, pushing the disturbing thought of her sister someday seeing her dead out of her mind.

“Hold on, let me see if I can get us out of here.” Putting the necklace back on, she spoke the words to transform, feeling the familiar warmth flow through her, even pushing away most of the soreness she as feeling. Calling the sword into her hand, she let the soft light of the crystal glint off of the metal, illuminating more of the space they were trapped in. It was elongated, narrow, and not very tall. They were surrounded by rubble, some scorched. There did not seem to be any openings, which made her wary about air supply. She let out a sigh of resignation, realizing she would not be able to use any of her attacks in this small space without jeopardizing their lives. Because of the tight space she also would not have a lot of leverage to swing her sword, but it was the only thing she could try.

Working her way back onto her back, she made several slashes at the rubble in front of her, putting all of the strength she had into it, though her arm did not have far to swing to build up momentum. Pieces of small pebbles and debris rained down on her, forcing her to close her eyes and swing blindly. But the majority of it was not giving. This was heavy stone that has supported the palace for many, many years. She let out a yell of frustration and swung out blindly over and over again until her arms ached and burned, finally forcing her to stop out of sheer exhaustion.

“Eirinn, calm down. I’m sure rescue will come soon, don’t worry.”

Finally letting out a resigned sigh, she turned over again, making one final cut to free her sister’s dress. At least she could do that much.  She gave the stone above her one last punch, the feeling of helplessness finally sinking in. Her sister was trying to reassure her, and Eirinn decided to put her faith in her sister’s words. Surely everyone above was trying to dig though to find their princess. It was just a matter of time. “I know. There may not be very much air in here, so we should sit quietly for now.”

Aya scooted a bit closer to her until their faces almost touched. They talked for a while about old memories and childhood until their mouths became dry and they feel silent. Their eyes began to nod in and out. Finally Aya spoke again.

“Eirinn, do the bonds of this duty ever chafe?”

“What? Aya, what do you mean?” Eirinn noted there were tears lining her sister’s eyes.

“I mean, do you ever wish I wasn’t the princess, and you weren’t First Sister…or do you ever wish that maybe…you were not my sister….so you could live a free life of your own?”

Eirinn’s eyes opened wide in shock. “Why would you say such a thing?! I would never, ever wish to have another sister no matter what the consequences. What would put that thought into your head?”

“Well….sometimes I think…if something ever happened to you….it would be all my fault, because of who I am. I don’t want to lose you Eirinn.”

Eirinn seized her sister’s hand with hers. “I am not going anywhere Aya. I don’t have any regrets. We may not have chosen our circumstances, but I am glad that our paths can run together. Don’t you think I feel the same? I want you to have a nice, happy, peaceful life with no worries to furrow your brow or make you cry.”

Her sister laughed. “Why are you trying to make me feel better? That’s a big sister’s job. I should be trying to comfort you. But….Eirinn…I’m scared.”

It was the faintest whisper, but Eirinn replied, “Me too…” as she squeezed her sister’s hand. She was beginning to feel a little dizzy. They were definitely running low on air. “Save your breath Aya, there is little air. We have to conserve.” She whispered. She knew that at least, in her senshi form, she would be mostly protected from the lack of oxygen. Eirinn had even heard that senshi can survive in space, though she had never tried it and had no desire to do so. She called upon the heart of Aran Cara once more, embracing the warmth of her planet’s power again. She deliberately slowed her breathing then, closing her eyes and simply focusing on the warmth she felt from the stone around her neck. It was almost trance-like, bathing in the small warmth.  She would save as much air as possible for her sister.

She did not know how much time had gone by, but she could hear her sister’s breathing was becoming more ragged. One look told her Aya was clammy and seemed paler than she had before.

She shook her sister’s shoulder a bit. “Aya, hold on. You just have to wait for the rescuers. They are coming.” She said the last bit with firmness in her voice.

Aya’s eyes fluttered open slightly. “E-Eirinn”, she said through gasping breaths. “I’m scared….I…I can’t….I can’t breathe! Eirinn….help…” Her eyes closed again. Her breathing had become even shallower and less regular.

Panic flooded through Eirinn, her pulse roaring through her ears. “Aya…no, don’t do that. Stay awake Aya!” She began to pound her fists on the rubble again, screaming out as loud as she could for help. She stopped, from time to time, to check on her sister, finding herself counting the times her sister’s chest rose and fell. She shook her sister gently, but her eyes did not open. A noise startled her, and a small piece of stone fell, hitting her on the head. She turned over to see what had fallen. There was now a small home going up into the rubble. She narrowed her eyes, unsure if it was simply a trick or if she did in fact see a tiny pinpoint of light in there. Sure it was light from outside, she became frantic now. Eirinn scraped and pulled at the rocks, clawing and straining her fingers to pry them loose, and they were coming, piece by slow piece. Her fingers bled from the constant friction against the rough stone, but still she clawed her way through, calling out to her sister the entire time.

It was small, but she could finally feel a gust of fresh air on her face. “Aya! I can see the light. It looks beautiful Aya. We’re going to be out in no time!” She pulled her sister closer to her, and closer to the small opening. Her sister did not respond, her chest barely moving. She was limp in Eirinn’s arms.

“No, nononono No Aya, you have to breathe. You have to!” Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried her best to bring her sister’s mouth up to the opening, shaking her. “You can’t go like this Aya. You’re the reason I am here. Without you…I…Come on…..come on Aya! Aya!” Her voice was almost a shriek now as she screamed her sister’s name.

She could now hear noises above her. They were close, but she realized they would be too late once again. She wrapped her arms around her limp sister, sobbing and screaming. Eirinn had never imagined it like this. She was supposed to outlive Aya, protecting her to the end of her days until they were old women. With one last desperate effort, she shook her sister’s shoulder and heard a small gasp. Eirinn’s eyes widened. In slow, halting, shallow bursts, her sister was drawing the cool air into her lungs.  At the same time, she could hear voices above her calling for the princess.

“That’s it Aya, just keep breathing.” She told her sister, feeling new tears roll down her cheeks. “We’re down here!” she cried out at the top of her lungs, knowing that rescue was imminent. The rescuers above began pulling bits of rubble free, opening up the small gap in the stones slowly more and more. Light was not cascading down onto her sister’s ash stained face, making her look somehow oddly more beautiful.

“E-Eirinn…look at that light. Isn’t it beautiful?” came the faint voice of her sister.

“It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen” Eirinn replies, embracing her sister while tears of joy fell like raindrops before a rainbow.

The sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door shook JunJun from a fitful sleep. Blinking, she sat up in her bed as she tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness. Yes, indeed it was still dark--much darker than what it usually was when she woke up. Slightly annoyed, Jun checked the time. It was 2:05 AM. Great, what with yesterday's battle, she would never get enough sleep. She'd have to set an alarm to wake up when she wanted to.

The footsteps stopped right outside her door. Looking through the crack between her door and the Palace floor, Jun could just make out the shadows of a pair of shaking feet.

Then, a knock.

"Come in," Jun called, her voice slightly hoarse from having just woken up.

No answer. Finally, after about a minute, the footsteps started up again, becoming fainter and fainter until Jun couldn't hear them anymore. By this point, she had a good idea about who was causing the noise.

Quickly, she slipped on a t-shirt over her pajamas, got out a flashlight, and walked out her door.

The Crystal Palace hallways were expansive, and almost like a maze. Jun gritted her teeth; VesVes could have gone anywhere. Last night's battle had been particularly taxing on her, and it was plain enough for everyone to see. If only she could see that demon again, if only it had a physical body that she could actually punch. Jun hated that feeling; she hated seeing her friends and sisters-in-arms bogged down by an enemy she couldn't just punch away.

She couldn't even begin to imagine how VesVes must have felt.

Jun chose to walk down a random corridor in the direction where she thought she heard the footsteps heading off to. She crept past doors and hallways, careful to tread lightly as so not to wake any sleeping staff, until finally she found Ves sitting cross-legged in front of a crackling fireplace.

"Hey," Jun said, and Ves jumped. Apparently she did not know she had been followed.

"Hey yourself," Ves grumbled, staring into the fire.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jun offered. Ves merely glowered.

"Well, what do ya think?"

"Well," Jun replied awkwardly, shuffling her feet. "I just wanna let you know that if there's anything I can do..."

"Anything you can do?" Ves repeated, finally turning around to face Jun. Now Jun could see that there were stress lines on Ves' face and bags under her eyes. She truly looked worse for the wear. "Anything you can do?? There's lots! Such as not talking to me, not being around me, not letting Cere or Palla or Hotaru or the princess come near me, taking me out if that demon ever comes back again and decides to mess with my mind again..."

"Ves!" Jun cried out, taking a step back in shock. "Don't say that! It's gone now, Usa-chan killed it. It's not coming back!"

"I COULD HAVE KILLED YOU ALL!" Ves roared, tears starting to stream down her face. Her hands curled into fists. "Hell, I WOULD have killed you all if Usa-chan hadn't hit me with her Freezing Kiss attack! But it was inside me, it was inside my mind, I could hear it laughing...I could hear myself laughing...as...I was about to..."

"VesVes," Jun said firmly, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder. Ves all but recoiled at the touch, but seemed to calm down enough for Jun to continue talking. "Please listen to me. You're giving Usa-chan just a bit too much credit. Sure, she killed the thing, but do you remember who allowed her to do so?"

Ves just stared at her, breathing heavily. Finally, she muttered, "I did..."

"That's right, sis. You did. I saw how you hesitated to deal the finishing blow. You must have been fighting it, huh?"

Ves nodded slowly. "Uh huh. If ya say so."

"I mean it," Jun firmly stated. "We've all been possessed before, right? Nehellenia was a thing, also from what I hear Usa-chan and Hotaru-chan have been manipulated against their will before as well. You're not alone, and you're not weak just because this is the second time you've been possessed."

"Yeah, but..." Ves protested slightly. "I never tried to kill you or Palla or Cere when we were under Nehellenia's spell."

"True," Jun admitted. "But that doesn't change anything. The demon is dead. It's not coming back, and if it does, I'll find a way to force it to grow a body, and then I'll punch it."

"I'll join your efforts," Ves muttered. "I wanna punch it too."

In spite of everything, Jun grinned. "There. See? You're still you. Now, we should probably get back to bed before Hino-san comes over and starts yelling at us."

"Hey..." Suddenly an idea dawned on Ves. "Maybe I could use this battle and recovering from being possessed and all to skip school tomorrow!"

Jun sighed. "You just had to go there, didn't you?"