Aria was torn. This entire ordeal was ripping her need of balance and stability to shreds. She was the first to trust Queen Stella, ever grateful for awakening and reuniting her with her sisters. They would still be stuck in their purgatorial hell they had been banished to for their failures.  She felt uncomfortable with the killing of the innocent, but Queen Stella had not lied and her spell showed he was corrupted by Chaos. She had to stop Chaos at any costs. The atrocities that happened to her and her sisters...it couldn't be allowed to happen again.

However... There was always that lingering however... She couldn't ignore her sisters opinions completely. She may be more willing to trust their savior than the others, but she trusted her sisters above all else. If they felt reason for suspicion in Queen Stella and her motives, she had to believe in them. She had been able to really do any investigating like the others as a bad case of indecision happened again. She couldn't bring herself to sneak around behind Queen Stella's back, but she wanted to help her sisters.

And now they were here, dragged unwillingly before the Queen being questioned themselves. Floria was the first to speak up. She smiled slight, knowing Floria was attempting to direct the Queen at her.  Yet the Queen had a point, she looked directly at her, calm and collected.

"What Floria says is true, however you are correct as well. We should have come to you for you have done much for us. Stella..." she paused, realizing she shouldn't be so formal.

"I mean...Queen Stella, please, subdue your anger towards us. If you would only answer your questions honestly.  There is no need to harangue us in this way."

She hoped to cool the situation. If things were to go the wrong way, which she truly hoped it did not as she wanted to believe the Queen, Aria needed to think of a plan to get her sisters out of here. She hoped to formulate one while they attempted to talk with Queen Stella.

Her plan was blown to hell, and now every one of her sisters were in danger. Cassidy feared for their lives, but most of all, she needed to know the truth. She lived on solving puzzles, and there were too many things that didn’t add up here. Listening to the queen’s defense, she picked up on one thing in particular.

“Exiled by your own family?” she asked, surprised. “So how did you get back into this kingdom and become a queen?”



Her eyes zeroed in on Floria. “So if you were innocent, would you be alright with someone going through your home and your stuff in the name of trying to understand you?” she asked icily.

She turned toward Aria, who was at least more polite.

“I already offered to answer your questions honestly. You need only to ask. It is about time you all know the truth, after all.”

And finally she gazed at Cassidy. “This isn’t my original kingdom,” she said, perhaps the first honest bit of information that she had revealed so far. “My original kingdom was none other than…” she sighed. “…Astera.”

Astera? That was Queen Stella's original kingdom?

Delia watched quietly, having slowly edged herself behind Floria as the accusations and anger continued to mount. Her lavender-gray eyes watched the queen, a myriad of emotions flickering through them. Delia was scared of what the queen might do, irritated at the way her sisters were being treated by Queen Stella, thankful that Floria was trying to protect the other sisters, and curious to hear Cassidy's questions answered. Her entire being was in turmoil; this was simply too much for her.

"Do you think it's true?" she whispered to Floria, not sure what to believe.

Still, she craned forward, waiting to hear more. There was so much about her home and past life that she just couldn't remember. She wanted to know what had happened.

Iris - Sailor Star Gemini 


Wait, did that make the Queen their aunt or some other long lost relative? How was this even possible. 

"How is Astera you're original kingdom?" Iris demanded. I wonder if she's lying to try and throw us off...

Floria could feel Delia behind her and felt a brief sense of relief that she was a form of safety for her younger sister.  Although she definitely felt that this Queen was not someone to trust, she wanted to hear how she claimed to be from Astera and why.  On the other hand, if what she said had truth to it, then why were they not aware of her, and why had she not told them immediately of her origin.  It only lead to Floria to mistrust the woman more.  To Delia she quickly whispered back, "I'm not sure, let's see what else she says."

Maia - Sailor Star Sagittarius

Spying on people wasn't fun. But she was with her sisters and so, even if she didn't participate to their wild chase across the castle, she wouldn't go against them. So when they all appeared in the Queen's room, she slightly walked closer to them, listening to everyone without commenting. Surely, there was something else to Stella's words and acts. Surely she wasn't evil like some of her sisters seemed to believe. Everyone had good in them, don't they? 

And everything was going very slowly.

Why was it complicated to just be honest and straightfoward for most people?

But seeing as her sisters already had most of it in good hands, she stood there and listened, also curious as to see what the Queen would answer to that. How could she be from Astera? Who was she? Maybe she was from their family? Could she really be bad then?

Emelia Astera - Sailor Star Capricorn

Emelia, now detransformed, stood at the back, calculating the situation through narrowed eyes. Though she didn't show it, she felt nervous. This is exactly what she'd feared would happen, and Queen Stella did not look too pleased to find out they'd been spying.

What Emelia was not expecting was to find out that Queen Stella was from Astera. Her surprise showed on her face, if only for an instant. She did not recognize this woman from her childhood. How could she be from Astera? Iris had a point, and she was glad to see Floria trying to defend the others. For now, Emelia stayed silent, trying to calculate every possible outcome of this scenario.

Aria glanced around at her sisters, all expressing shock in their own way upon Queen Stella's revelation. She felt shock as well but also there was a constant worry in the back of her mind that this was a trap. She wished she could had Iris's ability of telepathy. She could formulate a plan with the others.  

Despite the worry of a trap, Aria had confidence in her sisters and herself. Their teamwork had gotten them through so much. There's no way this one woman could over take them. Not with their abilities. The only being to do that was Chaos in its more horrible form. Queen Stella proved she had great magical ability but there was no way it could rival that of Chaos.

Sirenia's face flushed hotly in embarrassment that they had been caught out. She had already been wrestling between her own curiosity and guilt, but the guilt was now taking the forefront. She stood just off to the side of Emilia, head looking downward and fiddling nervously with her hands. It was even more embarrassing that she was so poor at hiding her emotions, even despite being somewhat of an empath. Sirenia was an open book and right now she wanted to be anywhere else but here, except for the fact that her sisters could be in hot water. 

Her gaze shot up as the queen dropped such a shocking statement. Wide eyed her full attention fell upon the queen. Curiosity, once again taking hold, made her yearn to fully know what the queen was feeling right now, to test whether or not she was being genuine. Even detransformed as she was, she met the queen's gaze with wide eyes and an honestly surprised expression on her face. She didn't dare try to pry, but anger and resentment were practically rolling off of her as she mentioned the exile. One didn't have to activate the abilities of an empath to feel it. 

But anger didn't prove anything really. There were always two sides to an argument, and both parties were often just as angry as the other. It still didn't prove her intentions. She glanced at the other sisters, to see how they were taking it.

The queen stood up at last, facing her inquisitors. Bitterness showed clearly on her face as she looked at them one by one. “Because I was the youngest of the Astera sisters. That seer in the dungeon foretold that I would bring about the destruction of your—our kingdom—and based on that, our lovely mother decided to exile me to the other end of the galaxy. I was left all alone, parentless, lost, and hopeless. It is time you know the truth of what a terrible mother the queen was.”

She started pacing back and forth. “You’ve all been kept in the dark about this awful secret. The fact that you have another sister, or that I even existed at all. I had to claw my way up from the depths of nothingness myself just to live. But in my struggles I have found something better anyway. Astera… that kingdom isn’t worth your protection.”

She stopped and looked at each sister in turn, now smiling, though it wasn’t exactly the sincere and kind smile they were used to seeing. There was a sense of manic excitement in her eyes. “Sisters… the reason you have not been able to reach your full potential is because you’ve been missing one all along. You can never be as strong as you could have been without me. That is why I wanted to reunite us all together again. To become unstoppable. Join me, and we can achieve greatness together.”



Cassidy stepped back in shock as she heard the revelation. Halfway through Queen Stella’s speech, she had activated her power to read the queen’s mind to determine if she was telling the truth. A long lost sister? One that their mother had not only thrown away but also hidden from the others?

And to her horror, she realized that it was. All of it was true, or at least as far as she could perceive it. Could Queen Stella be powerful enough to manipulate her own mind so that Cassidy would see her lies as truth?

“She’s… she’s telling the truth,” she told her sisters. “I looked into her mind and it’s all true… or at least she believes them to be true.”

At Queen Stella's proclamation and Cassidy's confirmation, Delia's mouth dropped open. Another sister? A sister that her mother had exiled?

The tears filled her eyes and spilled out, dripping down her cheeks. How... how terrible! She loved her sisters; with them she had strong bonds of friendship and loyalty. They were all different, and sometimes they didn't get along, but she cherished each and every one of them. To be separated from her sisters—to be cast out... Delia covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.

How lonely she must have been!

Antares-Sailor Star Scorpio

Queen Stella was...their sister? All the feelings of suspicion and distrust she had were momentarily halted, replaced by pure shock. Her entire confession was barely believable. Why would their mother abandon her on the words of someone else? Was the seer wrong or right? And even if they were related, could she place her trust in her like she did with her other sisters?

"Why didn't you...just tell us as soon as you found us then?" Antares said.

Iris- Sailor Star Gemini 


"Join you? For what, so you can use us to kill more people and take over countries and planets as you want?" Iris shook her head in disgust. How could this woman be their sister? She seemed to be the opposite of everything they stood for.

Aria didn't need Cassidy's confirmation to believe her, she could tell that the second the words left Stella's mouth. It explained her ease of comfort around her for this past time. But now she could sense the bit of malice coming from her.

Iris had a point with her question. The way this had began to turn, her tone, her clear intent...They had been used.

"Stella. What do you mean by "unstoppable"?  I'm not sure what happened to you," she shook her head, fighting off a small lump forming in her throat, "But this is not who we are!"  

Aria gestured to her other sisters.  She looked at Stella, eyes determined and keeping her emotions in check. Now was not the time for emotions, that could come later.

"Now tell us, what is the true reason that you made us kill that king?"

Maia - Sailor Star Sagittarius

She was what?! Though, like everyone, she first felt shock at Stella's revelation, Maia also saw something else: a chance. A chance that something happy would come out of this, that they wouldn't all have to fight each other. Peace was always an option wasn't it? And how could one of them be evil? How could one of them be bad? They were sisters after all...

"If you'd said it sooner, this... whatever this is right now, wouldn't be happening."

She curtly said, though with a certain smile, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Aria's question, however, put a damp on her eternal optimism. This was still a relevant question. Why? Why kill him?

Reva - Sailor Star Aries

It had only been a few seconds since Reva stood on the hallway with Antares, when they both stood in front of the closed door, the embellished woodplate, that kept Queen Stella's deepest secret yet hidden from them.
She had talked to Antares, considered how she could continue from there on, considered, whether or not she should transform into her stronger alter ego - when suddenly this suction, this immense power, this overwhelmingly strong form of magic that made her feel like a puppet on a wire mesh, seized hold of her.

Reva tried to offer resistance, fidgeted her arms back and forth and tried again and again to break free from the spell; however, no matter how often or how hard she tried, no matter how often she put her power into freeing herself, it had always been an unsuccessful attempt of winning the fight.

At the end she just gave in, knowing it would have been no use, and closed her eyes, opened them only when she was first standing still and on firm ground again, just to...

...find herself in front of the horrible hag of a Queen.

Antares, who got carried away from the door as well, now stood near her again - just like her other sisters - and Reva saw how the oh so noble lady was giving herself yet another break on her luxurious throne, decorated with golds and silvers.

She looked sinister - not the regular sinister she was already used to, but an angry sinister - and reproached her and her sisters again and again for spying on her.

Just when would that lady realize how superfluous all her comments were?
She didn't tell them anything, she treated them like henchmen, she was a queen unknown to even the smartest books of a library - as if she and her sisters had any reason to apologize for anything they had done.

The tensed situation lasted for some time; the queen was as angry as ever, her sisters still seemed to feel guilty. Reva looked around and waited for something more interesting to happen - something that wasn't necessarily another comment of the self-proclaimed Queen.

And then, suddenly, her throat went dry.
Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, her heart skipped a beat and she slowly but surely felt how a huge lump in her throat was going to emerge.

Stella? Their forgotten sister? Could it really be...?

As fast as the thought came to her mind, it also left her head again which caused the oldest sister to burst out laughing and to snort with laughter.

Stella? Their sister? As if that would ever happen!
As if a horrible person like Stella would ever be a part of their family.

She ordered them to kill an old man, she ordered them to subdue her opponents, she ordered them to do anything and everything once she would click her fingers.
Mother always told them to fight for love and justice, to be kind and generous, to never take advantage of people - she remembered that whenever she thought of her. If she would have really been their sister...mother's daughter...then there was no way she would have ended up like this.

Reva watched how everyone was endlessly shocked about the 'revelation' of the day and after putting the one or the other thought together, she then eventually came to a conclusion.

"You don't say, dear sister," she said sarcastically, the smile from a few seconds ago still slightly visible on her face. "But I think I would've known if mother had delivered another daughter."

She took a short break and closed her eyes, a cheeky smile appearing on her face once again. "And for your information, little bunny boo...if you can't really 'remember' anymore...Mother has always been a good-hearted person and always cared for us."

OOC:

There was a myriad of reactions around her upon hearing the revelation. Stella watched each sister react differently—one of them had simply burst into tears, how sweet—and how a few were understandably skeptical, even when her words were proven true by one of their own, now that their parents’ so-called parental skills were called into question.

She decided to answer their questions one by one.

“I managed to survive because someone kindly gave me the power to do so. That’s how I rose from darkness into this throne. Why didn’t I tell you when I found you? I was going to when the time was right. If you remember, you were all in such a fragile state when I found you. It seemed too soon to drop such a huge shock on you at the time.”

She turned to Iris and laughed. “Countries and planets? You think in such a small scope, sister. Together we can own the universe.”

Aria spoke up next, and Stella’s attention moved towards her. “Unstoppable is unstoppable. We can have the ultimate power. If this isn’t who we are, then who are we? Tell me, was it nice to devote your lives to protect Astera only to nearly lose everything? This isn’t what we’re meant to do. Serving others. We have all this power—especially together—so why should we use it for other people’s needs rather than our own?”

A sinister smile played upon her lips. “Killing that king was a twofold plan. One, it allows me to take over his kingdom now that it’s in disarray. Two… you have all willingly committed murder… which means you are now more predisposed to accept Chaos than ever.”

That had been all she needed. To plant that tiny seed in their little hearts, to open a door. And now that she had… she was certain that those of the sisters who were already swaying that way anyway—especially Antares, who had also been the one to deliver the killing blow—would certainly be primed for this.

Finally, her gaze fell on Reva, their so-called leader. Stella hated her the most, for she acted like she knew everything, had an attitude of someone who had no right to be acting the way she did, and thought she was better than the rest of them for no good reason other than she was born first. No, Reva was actually the most foolish of them all.

“Of course she could, fool,” she snapped. “You were all so blind, our mother could have had twenty more children and sent them all away and none of you would have been none the wiser.”

She laughed when Reva claimed their mother was ‘good-hearted’. “Well, she may have been kind to you, her precious daughters, because none of you was prophesized to bring about her kingdom’s doom. But me? She was more than happy to punish me for something I hadn’t even done yet. Is that what a good mother does, I ask you?”

She sighed and looked around the room. “You may as well hear it from the mouth of the devil herself.”

With a wave of her hand, the seer from the dungeon appeared before them. She looked at all the sisters sorrowfully, her eyes full of guilt.

“Well? I’ve lifted your curse. Go tell them why we couldn’t all have been one happy family to begin with,” the queen demanded.

The seer looked at each of them in turn and spoke. “It is true. I condemned her. It is my fault that she turned out like this… the bitterness of being exiled by her own parents because of a prophecy was what caused her to turn to the dark side in the first place. If I had just kept quiet about it… maybe nothing would have happened. Instead, because I told your mother about the future, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. As I have said before, she is your blood.”

Quote :

This event can end several different ways, so the choice is yours. As a majority, decide to either kill or attempt to save Queen Stella from Chaos’ corruption. Or maybe even join her and be evil. Totally a possibility too!

Antares- Sailor Star Scorpio

Antares was silent as Stella answered their questions, and each answer she gave further brought into question the things she had believed in so strongly. Senshi were meant to protect people....right? But... Asteria, their home, was destroyed. What was their purpose then? Was was left for them besides their own amusement?

The Seer's words and their own mother's foolish decision had caused the banishment of their last sister, and their lack of unity made them too weak to protect their kingdom. In a roundabout way, weren't the two of them responsible for this mess? Why should she bother trying to clean it up? 

Antares looked at her hand, the hand that killed an innocent man. They'd all gone through with it in the end, so what made them better than Stella? She felt used and dirtied, but was this any different than being manipulated before? And to think that her own abilities were to control others' minds. How ironic that she'd been played for so long. What kind of person used poison for good anyway? If anything, she was the least proper senshi.

"You're right, we can never go back to what should have been..." Antares said. Her eyes were tired as she looked up again. "..But is Chaos truly better than this?" she asked. Why struggle with the light if darkness was easier?

Aria's heart broke for Stella, condemned all these years to allow Chaos to corrupt her. To be so cold and alone with out her family. If only they had know...that their mother had done such a thing...  But was it even their Mother's own fault? Their mother was doing what she thought was good for them and their people. Is that so wrong?

Stella then said the thing she feared the most. She had allowed their hearts to be opened to Chaos.  She furrowed her brows.  It couldn't be true...they had fought so hard against the massive evil of the galaxy.  She knew...she believed in her sisters and their power...even Stella.

Then Antares spoke and Aria began to plead with her sister.

"Antares! Please...You know, just as well as I, that we have been through so much, so much pain and suffering that it may seem unable to bear, even after all this time, but we are strong! When we unite our hearts as one, we can have the power to do anything.  We fought great battles before our fall, some won, some lost, but we always stuck together, no matter what."

Aria looked down, having a moment of self doubt.

"Maybe...Maybe I am naive or just a silly dreamer, but I believe we cannot be corrupted if we come together. What SHE did--" Aria looking up, strongly pointed at Stella.  She paused and took a deep breath, feeling her powers and the air currents around her give her strength, "Does not weaken us!"

"I believe it is not too late for us or her!"  Aria truly believed they could save Stella, rid her of the Chaos infecting her heart. In her mind, she began to think up a plan, a way they could break the evil from Stella's heart.  If only they could show her how much she was loved...

Maia - Sailor Star Sagittarius

It was hard, even for her, to keep her usual optimism in the light of everything that was happening but Aria brought back some of it by her speech. They had to believe in the good there was in all of them, in all their hearts, and even, perhaps, in Stella's heart.

"Then you were weak."

She said to Stella, not because she wanted to be mean, but because she saw it as the truth. They were stronger than this, the 12 - 13? - sisters, stronger than darkness.

"We are stronger than this and we are worth more than this. Chaos is not power, it's blinded servitude. What happened with the king did not make us monsters." Her gaze stopped on Antares. "We are better than this. Together."

Celeste Nova Astera - Sailor Star Aquarius

After being magically transported to Queen Stella’s throne room, Celeste listened to the whole conversation between her sisters and the queen.  For a while, she didn’t really want to add anything to the conversation, so she stayed silent.  Until Queen Stella’s revelation that she was a long lost sister of theirs and her asking the twelve to join her in a reunion.

Celeste was just as shocked at this revelation as her eleven sisters that she had known for so long.  But the offer to join together didn’t sit well with what she had found out when Eliane and her had gone out into the town to talk with several commoners there.  A couple of these eleven responded with shock and sympathy to this queen before Celeste could formulate what she wanted to say in response.  Then came Antares’s question, which Celeste wanted to hear the answer to before she said anything.  This was followed by Iris’s in-your-face reason to not ally with Stella; even though Celeste wasn’t sure she liked how strongly Iris said it, she definitely agreed with this sister’s point.  Then Aria seemed to side with Iris, although Aria made her point more politely.  And Reva was the one of the eleven who probably surprised Celeste the most by doubting that Stella was a long-lost sister despite Cassidy’s virtual confirmation.

Finally the queen of this land that these twelve were now in spoke up; when she got around to Antares’s question, this queen claimed the time was not right, also claiming these twelve were in a fragile state.  This queen followed that up by confirming (or maybe even exceeding) Celeste’s worst fears in response to Iris and Aria.  Celeste had time to think over these points made while this queen attended to a couple other points brought up by the eleven sisters she had known for so long.

So when this thirteenth sister finished up, Celeste had her response pretty much planned out.  But before she could get it out, a couple of the eleven spoke up, starting with Antares, who seemed to be giving up on being good and just after what the twelve had done to that king and what Stella told them here and now.  Then Aria pleaded with Antares and the other sisters to see the light and the possibilities in it, and Maia continued this.

At this point, Celeste had an opportunity to intervene and give her input, so she seized it.  Celeste started by pointing accusingly at the seer who had given the prophecy in the first place and exclaiming “So you are the root of all this evil; you are the main culprit here by telling our mother of this prophecy that would cause this natural chain of events that we now know the truth about!  The rest of us pale in comparison, even our mother, because we were just doing what seemed most innocent of the choices available at the time!  For that, I think you deserve to die for causing all this evil!”  At this point, Celeste had considered transforming and tossing several ice spears at the seer, but she thought better of it, realizing it would probably only serve to make herself more evil (and more susceptible to the influence of Chaos).  So she instead continued on by looking at the seer in a less accusatorial way and telling her in a kinder tone “But in the end, killing you would serve no good purpose, for what’s done is done.  I will let you live, but I would like to ask you in the future to consider the consequences of each of your actions - even the fortunes and prophecies you tell - by considering your options and choosing the one that would cause the least evil.”

Celeste then looked at each of the eleven sisters in turn that she had known & loved for so long, and telling them in a loving tone “And to my sisters that I have known for so long, I would like to tell you that I believe Aria and Maia are correct.  Just because we did one truly evil deed - even though that deed was killing someone or assisting in it - does not mean we are evil, period, end of game.  It does not even make us mostly evil.  In truth, it’s only one small part of our long history.  So we can overcome it by making sure we act in kind, loving ways for the rest of our lives.  We have built up a great start in all our actions before killing that king, and we can certainly build on that start in the future.  I believe that if we unite in this way, then the odds are best at us overcoming any future adversity, of being unstoppable, as the woman who gave us a second chance at life put it.”


Her segué started, Celeste finally looked kindly & lovingly upon Queen Stella, and told her in a tone that matched the feelings on her face “True, I cannot forget about you, Stella.  Our long-unloved sister - until recently, at least.  Us twelve may not have shown & said it enough before now, but we all do truly appreciate your actions of bringing us back from the brink of death and giving us this second chance at life.  Not only that, but your subsequent action of reuniting us.  For that alone, we are all eternally grateful.  And even though you have committed some evil yourself, Stella, I believe we all still love you.  We have shown this, in part by following all your commands up until earlier today, wanting to do what was best for you, even when it was of borderline morality & virtue overall.  Even Reva is this way,” at this point, Celeste gave a long, pointed look to her eldest sister.  Then Celeste continued by turning back to Queen Stella and continuing in the same tone as before “I believe she only needs to overcome the disbelief she is feeling at your shocking revelation, Stella.  So I believe even you can overcome any influence of Chaos, any future attempt of Chaos to corrupt us & overcome us, conquer us.  So in response to your asking us to join with you, I would like to counter-ask you, Stella, to join us and see the light.  We could all rule benevolently across a larger territory than we ever could rule by fear.  Yes, by going out into the town and talking with several commoners here, I was able to tell that you are currently ruling them with fear.  It feels so much better, Stella, to rule in a benevolent manner.  For starters, you don’t have to constantly watch your back all the time.  This is why I am asking you to join us and see the light.  Give our benevolent ways a chance, Stella, my sister - I believe you will notice many advantages of doing this, including the one I just mentioned.”  Finally, Celeste had said all that she wanted to tell the other people here, so she rested and gave her sisters a chance to respond.

Emelia Astera - Sailor Star Capricorn

A sister. A long lost sister. Emelia's mind was reeling at this moment. How could she not see this? How could she not know this? Despite Cassidy's confirmation, doubt filled her mind. She hated not knowing what to do or how to think. She always planned, strategized, and reasoned up a solution. Everything she had previously thought about her mother and her home planet was turned over its head and challenged. Emelia wore her troubles openly on her face, something she almost never did.

If there was one thing Emelia hated more than feeling lost, however, it was being tricked or manipulated. And when Queen Stella openly admitted that she'd been manipulating them so that they would succumb to Chaos' influence, it sent Emelia's blood boiling. However, most of her anger was directed not directed at the Queen, but at herself. How could she be so stupid not to realize this? She was supposed to be the one with the high IQ, and she'd failed to figure out something that should've been obvious. She felt like she failed her sisters.

Speaking of her sisters, a few of them were speaking up. Antares was thinking of succumbing to Chaos, while Aria, Maia, and Celeste were trying to stop her. Emelia found herself agreeing with quite a bit of what the latter three were saying. Her troubled, angry expression faded into her usual neutral one as she finally spoke up.

"I agree with Celeste," she stated. "It is illogical to assume that one deed changes who we are as people. Morality is not a simple black-and-white matter; if we do one evil deed, it does not make us inherently evil. In fact, none of us are inherently evil," she added, glancing at Antares. This was her way of trying to dissuade her sister from joining Chaos. Then Emelia turned to Queen Stella.

"This goes for you, too," she said. "No matter what kind of anger or loss any of us may feel in our hearts, I think it is illogical to blame and point fingers and start fights. I think that it is best to unite as one unit and do whatever we can to fix whatever wrongdoings we may have committed. After all, the way I see it, one way to repel Chaos inside yourself is to take responsibility for your actions, which you can do. It's not too late." Having said her two cents on the matter, she stepped back, letting her sisters take the floor once more.

As the discussion continued, Delia struggled through her own roiling emotions and the things being said on both sides. She felt extreme sorrow for Stella, who should have been one of them. She felt grief for her mother, who must have been heartbroken to lose her youngest daughter. Although Stella tried to paint a picture of their mother as a heartless self-serving creature, Delia could only imagine what the woman must have struggled with—give up her child, or risk her entire kingdom. There was no easy or right choice, but a choice had to be made. It was only too cruel that it doomed them all in the end anyway.

But when Stella suggested turning to Chaos, the very darkness that had destroyed their home so many years ago... She agreed with Emelia—one bad deed was not enough to become irredeemable.

She looked up at Queen Stella, her eyes still filled with tears.

"Please, sister... Let's join together in harmony, as we should have been back then. We still have the opportunity to reunite."

Iris - Sailor Star Gemini 


The woman was absolutely insane. If what she said was true, their mother had done a terrible thing and she had every right to be angry and bitter about it, but to go to this extreme? It was pure insanity. Sister or not, how could the sisters she had been raised with seem to forgive this woman so easily?

"No, it wasn't your fault, if the blame is to be laid at anyone's feet, it should be laid at our mothers. It was her choice to cast her out, she made that choice, not you. You cannot control other people's actions." Iris felt bad for the seer woman, she seemed as if she carried so much guilt.

Floria moved to place her arm around Delia, her caring younger sister, in an attempt to comfort her while the others continued their discussion.  While the thought of another sister would have usually given her joy, like it had so many times before, this time she was filled with dread.  She felt pity for Stella, at least until she explained what the king's role had been.  She began to feel her heart swell with pain for her sisters, all of what they were being forced to witness to.  However she quickly swallowed it back, and instead she hardened her resolve.  She would not let her family crumble from this or be separated into sides. 

"Stella I will not attempt to defend our mother's actions, what she did was wrong and I accept that. However you are your own person, responsible for your own actions.  No one else forced you to choose the path of Chaos, you choose to give into your bitterness, blaming everyone else around you. As for the murder you claim, will weaken us to Chaos, does not a soldier kill in time of war?  Have we not already defended our home from those who would harm us in the past?  We were under the impression of impending war and suffering, you manipulated us and I could not see through it, therefore his blood is on your hands and mine, no one else's."  The last few words Floria directed at Antares, determined that she would not let the king's death fall on her sister's conscious. 

She turned back to the woman before them, daring to look her in the eyes.  Floria's own eyes reflected her resolve.  This woman was family by blood only, she owed her nothing, not when she had chosen to manipulate them for Chaos.  She would do anything to protect her sisters from any further harm.

Antares-Sailor Star Scorpio

Antares was shocked that her sisters were still rejecting Stella's offer, even after the truth was revealed to them, but she was even more shocked, and touched, by how much they cared about her as well as their wayward sibling. 

Did they really think she hadn't fallen too far after that murder to be redeemable? Even if Floria said it wasn't her own fault, she still felt like it was. She'd always felt a little out of place among their group, like the black sheep, but if they were willing to let Stella's transgressions pass, then maybe there was some kind of hope for her after all. Could they really recover from this? Antares looked back at the other girls, as if seeing them in a new light.

"You all really think that?" she asked, her voice shaking. 

Watching and listening to her sisters reaction, Aria felt a warmth deep within her. The warmth gave her strength, comfort, love and serenity. She looked Antares straight in the eyes with a warm smile on her face. She reached out to touch Antares hands.

"Of course we do."

She watched as Antares was the first to be tempted, as she expected. After all, it was with her hands that she had killed an innocent. It was funny how even after nearly dying, the others still believed that they could win. It had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they couldn’t. They had stood together to defend their galaxy and failed. They’d lost everything and nearly died themselves.

Her eyes landed on Maia, anger burning in her gaze. With a wave of her hand she released a powerful energy to throw Maia across the room. “Does that feel weak to you? Chaos gave me that power. Without it, I would have been nothing. I only serve the darkness because I want to.”

Stella had to admit that she was surprised when Celeste condemned the seer for her actions. It was true; it all began with her choice. To her sister’s invitation to join the light, Stella just shook her head. “I can get whatever I want the way I am now. Light is blind servitude. We dedicate our lives to protect others and get nothing in return. Why would anyone want that?”

They didn’t understand. She didn’t want to resist Chaos. She liked being one with it.

She smirked at Floria’s words—if that was what the girl needed to think to sleep better at night, then she could. The fact of the matter was Stella had merely put the suggestion of the king being evil and the sisters had decided as a group to murder him. In his sleep, when he was helpless. With no further proof of which side he was on other than some spell that Stella gave.

“Dear sister. Even if the king was truly siding with Chaos, according to the rules of the light, it would still be wrong to kill him without giving him a chance to explain or repent. That choice to kill him in cold blood was yours. And that may just be one ripple in the pond, but had you not figured out the truth, I would have been able to lead you down this dark path easily until there’s no turning back anymore.”

Finally she looked at all her sisters. “I do not want to join you in the light. No one has ever loved me and I don’t believe anyone ever could. Even now, some of you already despise me. I cannot enter into a bond upon which the basis is love when there is none for me, nor do I know how to feel it for others. So please, sisters,” she opened up her arms.

“Either join me, or attempt to kill me, your own blood.”

Cassidy’s mind was running a mile a minute. This was too much, and she couldn’t believe she, who liked to think she was smart, had not seen it coming at all. Even with the seer’s words in the dungeon earlier…

How could their mother have done this? To banish an innocent child who had yet to do anything…?

She looked up at the seer, weighed down by guilt, as Celeste condemned her yet Iris absolved her. Cassidy thought of the prophecy… and how despite banishing the supposed culprit, the kingdom had fallen anyway. Maybe because they had banished her…

“Wait,” she said, addressing the seer now. “Did the prophecy come true after all? If she was supposed to bring about our doom… was she the one…?”

“Yes,” the seer answered tiredly. “She was the one who, after gaining power from Chaos, attacked and decimated the Astera galaxy in revenge.”

Cassidy stepped back in shock. She had felt compassion for her long lost sister earlier, but now… knowing that Stella was responsible for killing everyone in Astera including her own sisters…

But why had Stella also brought them back to life, then? To recruit all of them into Chaos’ side? In this moment she realized two things. One, Stella had proven to be stronger than all twelve of them combined when she destroyed Astera and put them all in near death state. This meant that if they tried to kill her now, they’d likely meet the same fate as before. Two, if she was already that strong, she didn’t need her sisters anymore. Sure, she said with all thirteen of them, they would be unstoppable, but…

Could the decision to bring her sisters back stemmed from love… even a tiny speck of it?

She stared at the queen who proclaimed she had never felt love, either for herself or towards other people, and began to doubt she was telling the truth.

“You saved us and brought us back here as a family. Do not tell me that was simply greed for power. Surely there are other powerful people you can manipulate out there. But you didn’t want them. You wanted your family.”